^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Presented    b^^^^  .  *&  -^^^^  .^(E.r'd^-A  3  S  O  Y^ 


BV  1533  .S63 
Slattery,  Margaret. 
Talks  with  the  training 
cl  ass 


Talks  with  the  Training  Class 


TALKS   WITH   THE 
TRAINING  CLASS 


BY    / 


MARGARET    SLATTERY 


INTRODUCTION    BY 

PATTERSON  DU  BOIS 


BOSTON 
THE    PILGRIM    PRESS 

NEW    YORK  CHICAGO 

1906 


Copyright,  1906, 

By  The  Congregational  Sunday-school 
AND  Publishing  Society 


To 
ELIZABETH   VAN   DUYNE,  M.D. 


INTRODUCTION 

PATTERSON  DU  BOIS 

Unless  I  am  mistaken,  Miss  Slattery's  book  means 
that  the  six-day-busy  folk  who  run  our  Sunday-schools 
are  not  to  suppose  themselves  in  the  dilemma  of  either 
becoming  pedagogical  psychologists  or  abandoning  the 
teacher's  chair.  The  outcome  of  many  a  training-class 
course  has  been  too  small,  because  too  much  has  been 
attempted.  Many  a  one  has  read  psychology  with  inter- 
est and  emerged  from  its  toils  too  merely  book-learned 
to  apply  it ;  others  have  surrendered,  or,  worse  still, 
believed  that  they  knew  it  all. 

This  is  not  a  reflection  upon  science,  but  the  plain 
story  of  a  misfit.  The  profound  and  complex  study  of 
the  workings  of  the  human  mind  envelops  some  simple 
and  vital  truths  for  everybody.  The  problem  is  to  dig 
them  out  and  make  them  usable  for  the  practical  man 
who  is  in  a  hurry.  This  is  what  Miss  Slattery  means 
to  do. 

Now,  the  method  by  which  she  attacks  this  difficult 
problem  is  good,  for  more  reasons  than  one.  It  is  brief, 
yet  elastic,  expansible.  The  very  limited  student  will 
gain  some  systematic  idea  of  the  child's  faculties  —  or 
the  "  paths  "  —  from  this  little  manual  alone.  The  less 
limited  student  will  do  still  better  by  following  our 
author  more  closely  into  other  treatises.  This  plan  is 
in  itself  educative.  It  stands  for  something  bigger  than 
the  present  work.  It  begets  a  broadening  habit  of  refer- 
[vii] 


INTRODUCTION 

ence  —  not  to  say  research.  Thus,  people  of  various 
grades  of  resource  may  get  their  direction  and  their  "set" 
from  this  modest,  unpretentious,  readable,  yet  earnest, 
manual. 

Note  also  that  it  is  not  too  precise  in  definition,  nor 
too  didactic  and  bookish  for  busy  folk.  It  is  lively, 
with  apt  illustration  drawn  out  of  direct  experience  —  for 
Miss  Slattery  is  a  quick-sighted  and  tactful  teacher  in  the 
day-school  as  well  as  in  the  Sunday-school. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  refer  to  the  book  in 
detail.  It  tells  its  own  story,  and  it  has  the  virtue  of 
assuming  to  be  no  more  than  it  is.  But,  just  in  illustra- 
tion, I  want  to  call  special  attention  to  what  it  says 
about  the  "  feelings,"  about  imagination,  analogy,  vol- 
untary attention,  habit,  and  the  higher  impulses.  If  we 
understood  some  of  these  things  better  in  ourselves  we 
should  do  less  violence  to  the  Book  of  books  and  more 
justice  to  our  fellowmen  —  especially  the  children. 

Most  persons  know  something  of  their  own  mental 
faculties  and  their  modes.  Without  meaning  to  make 
expert  logicians  or  psychologists  of  them.  Miss  Slattery 
would  take  them  as  she  finds  them  and,  avoiding  weary 
abstractions,  lead  them  into  that  better  organized  knowl- 
edge which  is  power. 


[  viii 


THE  PURPOSE  OF  THE  BOOK 

My  purpose  in  the  talks  which  we  are  to  have  together 
is  not  to  give  you  lectures  upon  pedagogy  or  child  study, 
nor  a  brief  treatise  on  Gregory's  Seven  Laws  of  Teaching, 
or  any  other  "  laws."  It  is  not  to  give  you  a  series  of 
theoretical  propositions  to  be  worked  out.  It  is  simply 
to  give  you  a  series  of  talks  upon  certain  principles  of 
teaching  familiar  to  many  of  you  —  at  least  the  words 
have  become  familiar  to  you.  The  talks  are  based  upon 
an  earnest  study  of  what  the  great  teachers  of  the  ages 
have  given  us,  upon  personal  experience  in  actual  teach- 
ing, and  upon  careful  observation  of  the  work  of  others. 
They  were  written  in  response  to  a  demand  for  a  simple 
Teacher-Training  Course  which  would  prove  helpful  to 
the  average  busy  man  or  woman  at  work  in  the 
Sunday-School. 

I  hope  they  will  do  one  thing  which  I  am  very  much 
in  earnest  about;  if  they  fail  in  that  they  will  have  failed 
of  their  real  purpose.  That  thing  is  not  to  interest  you 
only,  though  I  do  want  to  do  that,  but  to  make  you 
think — think  so  hard  that  you  will  not  read  the  name 
of  the  book  recommended  and  mean  to  look  at  it  some 
day,  but  that  you  will  go  to  your  library  and  get  it.  If 
it  is  not  there,  send  to  a  publishing  house ;  if  you  cannot 
do  that  —  and  there  are  so  many  of  us  who  cannot  buy 
the  books  we  would  gladly  read  —  then  ask  two  or  three 
teachers  to  buy  it  with  you,  share  the  reading  of  it,  and 
let  it  be  the  first  volume  in  a  circulating  Sunday-school 

[ix] 


THE    PURPOSE    OF   THE    BOOK 

library.  The  books  recommended  discuss  fully  and  in  a 
most  helpful  way  the  subjects  of  the  course.  The  History 
of  Christianity  and  Kemp's  History  give  information  in- 
valuable to  a  teacher,  u^hile  Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom 
will  prove  most  helpful  to  any  teacher. 

I  hope  these  talks  will  make  you  think  so  hard  that 
you  will  see  problems  you  never  saw  before;  if  one  sees 
a  problem  there  is  hope  of  solving  it.  I  trust  they  may 
so  deepen  your  interest  that  not  one  day  shall  pass  when 
you  do  not  remember,  for  a  moment  at  least,  that  class 
of  yours,  its  need,  and  that  you  must  meet  that  need. 

I  wish  I  knew  you.  I  would  like  to  look  at  you,  and 
from  the  various  groups  choose  those  who  really  mean  it 
when  they  say,  "  I  wish  I  were  a  better  teacher,"  better 
prepared  to  cope  with  the  difficulties.  A  better  teacher 
means  better  pupils,  always.  The  great  longing  of  the 
faithful  men  and  women  in  the  Sunday-school  teaching 
force  to-day  is  that  in  some  way  they  may  be  able  to 
make  impressions  so  deep  and  lasting  that  they  shall  lead 
to  expression  in  life  and  character.  As  one  learns  more 
and  more  about  the  children  he  is  to  teach  and  "  how  " 
to  teach  them,  his  power  to  do  this  increases.  None  of 
us  seek  to  know  method  for  the  sake  of  method,  but 
because  of  what  right  methods  can  do. 

To  help  you  in  a  small  way  to  become,  not  a  faultless 
teacher  nor  a  celebrated  or  popular  one,  but,  no  matter 
what  you  are  now,  a  better  equipped  teacher,  is  the  earnest 
desire  of  the  author  and  the  purpose  of  the  book. 


[''] 


REFERENCE  BOOKS 

The  Gospels  Combined,  Charles  H.  Pope. 
His  Life,  Barton,  Soares,  and  Strong. 
Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology,  William  James. 
The  Making  of  a  Teacher,  iMartin  G.  Brumbaugh. 
Teaching  and  Teachers,  H.  C.  Trumbull. 
The  Point  of  Contact  in  Teaching,  Patterson  Du  Bois. 
Children's  Rights,  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin. 
Educational  Evangelism,  Charles  E.  McKinley. 
Methods  of  Teaching  History)  ^   ^  ^^jj^ 

Contents  of  Children's  Minds  S 
Primer  on  Teaching,  John  Adams. 

For  practical  suggestions,  see  Sunday-School  Problems, 
Amos  R.  Wells. 


SUGGESTIONS 

"  Talks  with  the  Training  Class  "  is  designed  to  be 
the  text-book  of  the  training  class.  The  questions  at 
the  close  of  each  chapter  may  be  discussed  in  class. 
It  is  suggested  that  while  as  many  individual  members 
as  can  should  own  the  recommended  books,  the  class  as 
an  organization  should  own  two  or  three  copies,  from 
which  the  leader  shall  assign  the  pages  recommended 
from  week  to  week  to  various  members  for  report  in 
the  class. 

Books  recommended  for  Study 

Some  stories   of  the   Bible,  such    as    Dr.    Hurlbut's, 
Foster's,  or  Mrs.  Sangster*s. 

Psychology  in  the   Schoolroom,  Dexter  and  Garlick. 

History  of  Christianity,  W.  E.  Gardner. 

History  for  Graded  and  District  Schools,  E.  L.  Kemp. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  Important  Principles i 

II.  Curiosity  and  Interest 13 

III.  Memory 22 

IV.  Imagination 30 

V.  Reason 39 

VI.  Analogy 46 

VII.  Attention 53 

VIII.  The  Will 62 

IX.  Habit 70 

X.  The  Gist  of  the  Whole  Matter      .  79 


Talks  with  the  Training  Class 


IMPORTANT    PRINCIPLES 

The  Starting-Point  —  "  Know  " 

That  little  word  suggests  the  first  principle  about 
which  we  shall  talk.  One  cannot  teach  if  he  does  not 
know.  And  first  of  all,  we  must  know  our  children.  We 
sometimes  forget  that  we  are  teaching  children.  One 
of  the  gravest  errors  in  all  our  educational  work  of 
to-day,  one  at  which  the  educators  of  the  future  will 
point  in  amazement,  lies  right  here.  The  majority  of 
teachers  are  engaged  in  teaching  subjects  first,  and  chil- 
dren second,  and  that  is  all  wrong. 

How  can  we  know  children  ?  By  honestly  wanting 
to  know  them ;  by  wanting  to  know  them  so  much  that 
we  shall  be  willing  to  let  our  theories  -about  them  be  de- 
stroyed,—  so  much  that  we  shall  be  willing  to  give  time, 
at  a  sacrifice,  to  get  acquainted  with  them. 

I  remember  a  child  who  had  been  in  my  room  about 
five  months.  She  did  not  seem  to  care  much  about  her 
work,  she  never  volunteered  anything,  though  she  an- 
swered fairly  well  when  questioned.  Her  whole  attitude 
was  half-hearted.  She  was  thirteen  years  old.  That 
year  I  observed  the  children's  birthdays  by  a  note  on  the 
desk,  with  a  red  carnation  for  the  boys  and  a  white  one 
for  the  girls.  About  a  week  before  her  fourteenth  birth- 
day she  stayed  to  make  up  some  work.  As  she  was 
going  out   I   said,  "  Well,  Edith,  your  birthday  comes 

[  1  ] 


TALKS    WITH    THE    TRAINING    CLASS 

next  week,  doesn't  it  ?  '*  "  Yes,"  she  answered  with  a 
great  sigh,  "  I  wish  it  didn't."  That  was  unusual  at 
fourteen,  and  I  said,  "  How  can  that  be  ?  I  thought 
girls  liked  birthdays." 

Her  lips  trembled  as  she  said  quickly,  "  I  don't.  You 
see,  I  'm  fourteen.  I  've  got  to  leave  school  after  this 
month.  My  brother  got  me  a  job  in  the  comb  shop,  and 
I  've  got  to  go."  She  began  to  cry  and  added  in  a  way 
that  was  quite  too  much  for  me,  "  I  can't  take  music 
lessons  or  anything  else.  I  hate  the  comb  shop.  I  want 
to  go  to  high  school  but  my  father  won't  let  me."  This 
was  my  half-hearted  girl,  not  interested  especially  in  her 
work.  I  found  out  in  that  talk  that  there  was  an  organ 
at  home,  and  she  had  a  passionate  longing  to  play  but 
had  never  taken  a  lesson.  All  these  months  she  had 
been  dreading  the  time  when  she  must  leave  school. 
What  good  would  it  do  to  study ;  what  was  the  use  of 
anything  ?  —  that  was  her  attitude.  I  perfectly  under- 
stood it  then.  I  had  known  Edith  those  months,  of 
course ;  eyes,  hair,  voice,  manner,  general  character- 
istics, and  yet  I  had  not  known  her  at  all.  If  I  had, 
what  might  I  not  have  made  out  of  those  few  last 
months  of  school  life !  I  suppose  there  have  been  many 
whom  I  have  never  known.  But  my  eyes  have  been 
opened  since  those  first  years. 

How  many  of  your  girls  and  boys  in  their  teens  do 
you  know  ?  How  many  of  your  young  men  and  women 
do  you  know  ?  Later  I  shall  talk  with  you  about  "  age  " 
and  the  importance  of  knowing  the  general  character- 
istics of  periods  of  development,  that  you  may  "  know  " 
your  children  in  that  way. 

Another  way  by  which  you  may  come  to  know  them, 
is  by  remembering.  So  many  of  us  forget,  or  seldom 
think  about  the  way  we  felt  when  we  were  children. 
We  are  too  far  away  to  realize  the  child's  standpoint. 

[  2  ] 


IMPORTANT   PRINCIPLES 

Let  us  get  back  now  and  then.  Do  you  remember 
what  it  meant  to  you  to  be  invited  out  to  tea  ?  to  have 
some  older  person  whom  you  admired  take  you  to  a  con- 
cert, or  driving,  or  in  fact  anywhere?  I  hope  I  may  live 
long  enough  to  give  to  many  children  the  unspeakable 
joy  a  woman  in  our  church  gave  to  me  when  I  was  six- 
teen. She  took  me  to  Boston.  I  shall  never  forget  it. 
To-day  when  the  conductor  calls  out  "  Boston  "  the 
thrill  of  the  memory  of  it  comes  back.  Boston  was  the 
world  to  me.  I  have  seen  much  of  my  country  since, 
but  no  such  joy  of  anticipation  or  memory  has  ever 
come  to  me.  What  she  said  to  me  in  answer  to  my 
expression  of  gratitude  as  we  came  home,  I  remember 
to-day,  and  it  did  me  at  that  time  more  good  than  all 
the  lessons  in  Sunday-school.  That  trip  cost  her  one 
dollar  and  a  half.  No  price  can  be  set  on  what  it  meant 
to  me. 

One  may  learn  something  of  children  from  well  writ- 
ten books,  for  and  about  them.  Next  summer  when 
you  are  in  the  hammock  or  traveling  —  and,  indeed, 
those  of  you  who  are  able  to  do  none  of  these  things, 
but  who  have  spare  moments  afternoon  or  evening  — 
you  will  want  something  to  read,  and  at  the  close  of 
this  chapter  I  shall  recommend  some  "  light  reading " 
of  a  kind  not  advertised  at  news-stands  —  stories  of 
child   life  which  take  us  back  and   do  us  good. 

We  may  come  to  know  much  about  children  through 
earnest,  connected  study  of  the  general  characteristics 
of  the  various  types  of  mind,  of  the  general  line  certain 
types  seem  to  follow  in  their  development.  One  of  the 
most  helpful  books  I  know  in  this  study  applied  especially 
to  the  child  mind  is  "  Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom." 
It  is  sane  and  practical,  and  much  of  it  is  helpful  to 
fathers  and  mothers  as  well  as  to  teachers.  If  you  can- 
not read  it  all,  be  sure  to  read  and  think  over  earnestly 

[    3     ] 


TALKS    WITH    THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

the  chapters  on  "Character,"  "Habit,"  "The  Will,"  and 
"  Training  of  the  Moral  Sentiment."  Things  are  clearly 
stated  and  easily  understood.  Choose  the  statements 
which  impress  you  most ;  try  them  with  your  children 
and  see  if  they  are  true. 

By  these  means,  not  all  at  once  but  little  by  little  as 
the  years  go  by,  one  may  come  to  know  the  children  he 
is  teaching.  By  some  means  he  must  know  them  — 
really  understand  them  —  or  fail. 

Lesson  Material 

But  it  is  not  enough  to  know  the  child ;  we  must  also 
know  what  we  are  to  teach  htm.  I  wish  as  soon  as  you 
read  this  article  you  would  get  a  child's  story  of  the 
Bible,  Foster's  or  some  other,  and  read  it  through,  as 
you  would  read  any  book,  that  you  may  have  the 
story  as  a  whole  from  Genesis  to  Revelation  before 
you.  We  have  done  so  much  study  of  the  Bible  by 
portions  that  the  simple  grandeur  of  the  whole  wonderful 
story  is  lost.  That  there  should  be  always  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  special  portion  to  be  taught  goes  with- 
out saying.  But  that  is  not  enough.  I  believe  with  all 
my  heart  that  a  teacher  of  whatever  grade  in  Sunday- 
school  should  have  a  much  broader  knowledge  than  that. 
How  few  of  us  have  anything  but  a  vague  idea  of  the 
history  of  the  Christian  Church  !  And  it  is  all  so  won- 
derful!  A  very  helpful  book  is  "A  History  of  Chris- 
tianity," by  W.  E.  Gardner.  Perhaps  your  pastor  has 
it.  It  is  designed  for  Sunday-schools,  and  is  clearly 
written  in  a  most  simple  and  interesting  way. 

The  other  book  I  want  you  to  know  about  is  Kemp's 
"  History  for  Graded  Schools."  It  is  a  series  of  stories 
so  interesting  that  you  cannot  forget  them.  If  you  get 
this  book  and  read  the  chapter  on  "  What  the  Hebrews 
Taught   the  World,"   you   will    thank    me    for    having 

[    4    ] 


IMPORTANT    PRINCIPLES 

spoken  of  it.  The  chapters  on  "  Early  Egyptians," 
"  How  We  Got  Books,"  "  How  Rome  Conquered  the 
World,"  are  fine.  How  many  boys  and  girls  have  lis- 
tened with  eager,  interested  faces  to  what  that  book  has 
given  me,  in  addition  to  what  the  Bible  tells,  regarding 
the  people  of  Old  and  New  Testament  times  !  I  urge 
the  reading  and  study  of  it  because  it  will  help  you. 

Perhaps  we  have  already  realized  that  the  important 
question  is  not,  "  How  shall  I  teach  this  particular  parable, 
the  life  of  this  prophet?"  but  "What  are  the  principles 
underlying  the  teaching  of  any  parable  or  prophet  ?  " 

When  once  we  realize  this  truth  our  minds  reach 
out  after  those  large,  general  principles,  and  as  we  grasp 
them  one  by  one  we  shall  find  ourselves  applying  them 
to  the  particular  lesson  of  the  next  Sunday. 

This  is  a  great  gain  to  us  in  power.  It  is  so  much 
better  than  attending  a  class  on  Saturday,  seeing  a  lesson 
taught,  going  to  our  own  classes  and  giving  an  exact 
reproduction. 

As  we  learn  to  let  great  principles  guide  us  in  our 
preparation  of  the  lesson,  we  shall  find  ourselves  pausing 
to  say,  "  What  part  of  all  this  material  on  which  I  have 
prepared  myself  is  best  fitted  to  follow  out  the  laws  of 
interest,  what  best  fitted  to  secure  attention,  to  awaken 
real  imagination  ?  " 

But  first  we  must  grasp  for  ourselves  the  meaning  of 
those  laws  and  the  other  great  principles  which  underlie 
real  teaching. 

The  business  of  the  teacher  is  first  to  "  know." 
The  second  and  equally  important  function  of  the 
teacher  is  to 

Help  Others  to  Know 

To  help  others  to  know  is  not  to  study  for  them ;   it 
is  not  to  pour  into  their  ears  the  wealth  of  material  one 
[    5    ] 


TALKS   WITH    THE    TRAINING    CLASS 

has  acquired,  but  rather  to  stimulate,  encourage,  instruct, 
in  such  a  way  that  they  shall  come  to  know  for  them- 
selves what  he  has  learned. 

One  may  say,  broadly  speaking,  that  there  are  three 
pathiuays  by  which  we  may  approach  every  human  life. 
In  all  my  experience  with  children  I  have  never  found 
one  who  could  not  be  reached  by  at  least  one  of  these 
three  paths.  They  are  the  pathways  oi feeling.,  knowing., 
willing.  The  power  of  feeling  includes  all  the  conditions 
of  pleasure  or  pain  to  which  the  mind  is  subject.  The 
power  of  knowing  includes  all  that  comes  to  one  in 
the  process  of  reasoning,  memorizing,  or  exercising  the 
imagination.  The  power  of  willing  includes  all  the 
processes,  attention,  impulse,  resolution,  etc.,  by  which 
decision  and  action  are  reached.  In  the  chapters  which 
follow  we  shall  endeavor  to  understand  in  a  very 
simple  way  these  three  paths,  "The  Feelings,"  "The 
Intellect,"  "  The  Will,"  for  it  is  by  working  along 
these  three  lines  that  we  are  able  to  help  others  to 
know. 

If  these  paths  were  clearly  defined,  and  by  following 
a  well-marked  way  we  could  arrive  without  fail  at  the 
heart-springs  of  a  child's  life,  it  would  be  easy.  But  it 
is  not  so.  Feeling,  knowing,  willing  are  all  connected 
so  closely  that  one  cannot  be  taken  by  itself  and  analyzed. 
For  example,  illustrating  in  a  physical  sense,  I  come  in 
from  a  walk  and  feel  hungry.  I  remember  that  I  saw 
an  orange  on  the  sideboard.  I  go  into  the  dining-room 
and  eat  it.  Or,  a  better  illustration  perhaps,  I  attend 
a  lecture  upon  the  social  conditions  of  slum  districts. 
The  lecturer  makes  me  feel  intensely  the  pathos  of  the 
lives  he  vividly  describes.  I  leave  the  hall  feeling  real 
sympathy  for  his  work.  I  remember  his  illustrations  and 
the  many  points  of  the  lecture.  I  am  impressed  with 
the   sensible  way  in  which    he   meets   the    problem;    I 

[    6    ] 


IMPORTANT    PRINCIPLES 

resolve  to  help   him  in  his  work,  and  I  send  him  money 
by  the  morning  mail. 

And  again :  I  say  a  mean  thing  to  my  friend.  I 
feel  ashamed.  I  remember  her  look  when  I  said  it. 
I  repent  of  it.  I  go  to  her  and  ask  forgiveness.  Feel- 
ing, intellect  and  will  worked  together  to  produce  that 
act.  The  feeHng  alone  could  not  have  produced  it,  but 
it  was  prompted  by  the  feeling.  Intellect  and  will  re- 
sponded to  feeling,  and  action  followed.  Stop  a  moment 
and  think  what  that  means  to  a  teacher.  If  only  action 
might  always  follow  !  Indeed  feeling  if  it  amounts  to 
anything  must  be  followed  by  action.  It  is  almost  use- 
less to  awaken  deep  feeling  for  the  poor  and  needy,  the 
oppressed  or  the  heathen,  unless  an  opportunity  to  act 
follows  the  feeling. 

Periods  of  Development 

Careful  observation  of  the  development  of  children 
has  led  students  of  child-nature  to  believe  that  there  are 
in  life  various  stages  of  development  which  are  world- 
wide. There  seem  to  be  three  definite  periods :  —  the 
first,  very  broadly,  from  one  to  seven  years,  the  second 
from  seven  to  fourteen,  the  third  from  fourteen  to 
twenty-one.  Heredity,  environment,  climate,  physical 
development,  all  tend  to  make  the  ages  differ,  but  the 
limits  given  are  in  general  pretty  safe. 

The  Feelings 

Let  us  look  at  these  three  periods  with  the  pathway 
o{  feeling  in   mind. 

In  the  first  period  (one  to  seven)  the  child  is  slave 
to  his  feelings — while  they  last.  Once  I  had  a  boy 
of  seven  years  sent  to  my  room  for  misbehaving  in  line. 
I  kept  him  twenty  minutes.  I  was  standing  at  the  open 
window  and  heard  him  say  to  his  companion  as  he  went 
[    7    ] 


TALKS  WITH    THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

home,  "  I  think  she  's  mean.  She  's  a  cross  old  thing." 
He  meant  it  just  then.  The  next  morning  he  brought  me 
a  five-cent  bar  of  chocolate  fudge.  The  child  of  six 
gets  angry  on  the  playground  at  recess.  He  slaps  and 
punches  his  playmate.  At  noon  I  see  him  going  home 
in  great  glee,  giving  this  same  playmate  a  ride  on  his 
sled.  I  envy  him  the  power  to  so  easily  forgive  and 
forget.  Anger  and  love,  sunshine  and  tears  follow  so 
closely  when   one  is  six  ! 

But  suppose,  knowing  the  quarrel  will  be  so  easily 
made  up,  I  let  it  pass  and  it  is  repeated  every  time  the 
child  meets  opposition  to  his  wishes.  You  know  the 
result.  The  repeated  action  prompted  by  the  feeling 
of  anger  develops  a  habit,  in  this  case  a  wrong  one.  If 
allowed  to  continue,  the  years  of  young  manhood  cannot 
overcome  it  though  reason  and  will  are  brought  to  bear. 
This  great  and  all-important  fact  makes  us  hopeless  and 
hopeful  by  turns. 

Suppose  feelings  of  generosity,  of  kindliness  and  good 
will  could  be  so  developed  that  more  and  more  they 
prompt  the  acts  of  the  child  until  repeated  action  be- 
comes habit.  Much  that  we  most  desire  would  result. 
Does  it  mean  anything  that  so  often  when  people  are 
excusing  the  apparent  selfishness  of  another  we  hear 
them  say,  "  Oh,  well,  he  is  the  only  child,"  or,  "  Well, 
she  was  the  baby  of  the  family  "  ?  It  is  a  growing 
conviction  with  me  that  the  great  aim  of  the  teacher  of 
young  children  in  Sunday-school  or  public  school  is  to 
cultivate  by  every  possible  means  the  higher  feelings, 
that  they  may  prompt  acts  which  when  repeated  shall 
form  habits  that  need  never  be  broken. 

In  the  second  period  of  development  (seven  to  fourteen) 
we  begin  to  notice  a  change  in  the  place  feeling  takes  in 
the  life  of  the  child.  Little  by  little  the  feelings  are 
brought  under  control  of  the  will  and  reason  as   they 

[    8    ] 


IMPORTANT   PRINCIPLES 

develop.  But  they  still  exist,  a  mighty  motive  power. 
This  is  a  fact  we  too  often  forget.  The  desire  for 
praise,  the  longing  to  excel,  the  worship  of  heroes,  all 
indicate  the  important  place  they  hold.  These  natural 
desires  may  be  wisely  used  for  the  highest  welfare  of  the 
child.  Is  there  anything  in  your  songs  to  satisfy  the 
heroic  spirit,  as  in  "  The  Son  of  God  Goes  Forth  to 
War,"  "  We  March  to  Victory,"  etc.  ?  Is  there  any- 
thing to  make  them  feel  the  compassion  and  patience  of 
Jesus,  like 

**  O  Jesus,  thou  art  standing 
Outside  the  fast-closed  door'*? 

When  a  boy  tells  you  that  he  thinks  a  certain  song 
"  awful  pretty  "  and  that  he  'd  like  to  sing  it  every 
Sunday,  or  a  girl  that  some  other  song  is  "just  lovely  " 
and  that  the  music  makes  her  feel  "  kinder  funny  and 
sad,"  you  may  be  sure  those  songs  have  earned  a  place 
in  your  Sunday-school  program.  If  during  your  prayer 
the  school  is  quiet  and  reverent  you  may  be  certain  that 
there  is  something  in  it  to  awaken  that  feeling. 

Feelings  are  exceedingly  contagious.  This  fact 
accounts  for  class  spirit  and  school  enthusiasm,.  Be 
sure  to  plan  for  something  each  Sunday  to  foster  a  good 
school  and  class  spirit.  Friendly  rivalry  in  attendance, 
in  Bibles  remembered,  in  supplemental  work,  the  desire 
to  make  "our  school"  the  very  best  —  these  all  help. 

In  the  third  period  (fourteen  to  twenty-one)  the  feel- 
ings become  more  and  more  the  servants  of  the  intellect 
and  will.  Therefore  in  your  plans  for  next  Sunday  you 
must  take  advantage  of  the  knowledge  your  scholars  have, 
increase  it  by  the  new  facts  you  are  able  to  bring,  and 
appeal  so  strongly  to  reason  and  will  that  they  must  react 
upon  the  feelings  and  call  them  also  into  cooperation, 
thus  inspiring  your  pupil  to  new  forms  of  activity. 
[    9    ] 


TALKS  WITH    THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

Jesus  did  that  so  often.  When  he  healed  the  man 
with  the  withered  hand  and  they  criticized  him,  see  how 
he  appealed  to  their  reason  :  "  What  man  shall  there  be 
of  you,  that  shall  have  one  sheep,  and  if  this  fall  into  a 
pit  on  the  sabbath  day,  will  he  not  lay  hold  on  it,  and 
lift  it  out  ?  How  much  then  is  a  man  of  more  value  than 
a  sheep  !  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  sab- 
bath day."  A  few  sentences  —  but  a  model  teaching 
lesson.  "  Surely  he  must  have  come  from  God,"  they 
said,  and  the  reason  reacting  upon  the  feelings,  many 
"  followed  him."  None  of  us  know  how  to  do  this  as 
he  did. 

In  all  periods  of  development  we  have  one  great  aid 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  feelings  —  the  story.  Learn 
to  use  it.  Read  with  your  class  in  mind.  Write  in 
a  few  sentences  the  main  points  of  stories  you  hear. 
Always  keep  a  scrap  envelope  for  those  which  can  be 
cut  from  papers  and  magazines.  In  older  classes  sug- 
gest stories  to  be  read.  Also  loan  books  you  know  to 
be  helpful,  fitted  to  their  needs  and  full  of  incentives  to 
better  living.  It  will  bring  a  rich  reward.  Perhaps  you 
are  the  only  one  interested  enough  to  do  it. 

In  most  places  the  day  of  the  old  Sunday-school  story 
has  passed.  For  many  reasons  I  rejoice;  for  some  I 
am  sorry.  To  be  sure  the  child  heroes  were  always 
"  goody  "  and  the  stories  impossible,  but  there  was  some 
wheat  among  the  chaff,  and  there  are  men  and  women 
in  our  churches  to-day  over  whom  those  books  had  once 
a  great  influence.  If  you  know  a  few  good  ones  tucked 
away  on  your  shelves  don't  be  afraid  to  use  them.  It 
has  seemed  to  me  that  the  newer  stories  for  children  lack 
in  some  ways  the  moral  stimulus  the  older  ones  had. 
From  your  own  reading  of  the  best  in  prose  and  poetry, 
give  them  stories  to  make  them  feel.  There  is  no  more 
encouraging  phrase  than  that  one  so  familiar  to  you  who 

[10] 


IMPORTANT   PRINCIPLES 

tell  stories,  "  I'd  like  to  be  that  girl  you  told  about." 
"My,  that  boy  was  awful  brave!  I'd  like  ter  been 
him.'* 

All  the  feelings  are  a  strong  part  of  human  nature, 
so  I  must  take  the  feeling  of  anger  and  turn  it  into  right 
channels ;  the  feeling  of  fear  and  make  it  fear  of  the 
low,  cowardly  and  mean.  I  have  found  the  story  the 
best  way  of  doing  this. 

The  right  kind  of  stories  must  certainly  awaken  right 
feelings ;  feelings  supply  motives  for  actions,  and  so  are 
of  the  utmost  importance  in  forming  character.  Heart 
and  brain  go  to  make  the  best  character,  and  neither 
alone  is  sufficient. 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

In  order  to  teach  we  must  know  children  and  material. 
To  really  teach  is  to  help  others  to  know,  and  through 
the  feelings  we  have  a  broad  highway  into  the  heart  and 
life  of  the  child.  In  order  to  make  others  know  and 
feel  the  mighty  power  of  Infinite  Love  which  pulsates 
through  this  great  world  of  pleasure  and  pain,  sorrow 
and  longing,  we  must  ourselves  know  it  so  truly,  feel 
it  so  deeply  and  respond  to  it  so  fully,  that  it  becomes 
more  and  more  the  motive  power  of  our  lives. 

FOR    DISCUSSION 

1.  What  two  things  are  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to 
really  teach  ?     Why  ? 

2.  In  your  opinion,  do  the  majority  of  Sunday-school  teach- 
ers know  their  pupils  ?     Give  reason  for  answer. 

3.  How  may  one  learn  to  know  his  pupils  ? 

4.  What  is  real  teaching  ? 

5.  How  should  this  definition  affect  our  knowledge  of  lesson 
material  ? 

6.  What  should  guide  one  in  the  preparation  of  a  lesson  ? 

[II] 


TALKS   WITH   THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

7.  By  what  pathways  may  we  approach  the  minds  of.  our 
pupils  ? 

8.  Tell  what  each  pathway  includes. 

9.  Give    original    illustrations    showing    how    these    three 
pathways  work  together  to  produce  an  act. 

10.  Give  the  three  periods  of  development. 

1 1 .  What  place  does  feeling  hold  in  each  ? 

12.  ''Feeling  if  it  is  really  to  affect  character  must  be 
followed  by  action."      Do  you  believe  this? 

13.  Discuss  the  place  the  story  holds  in  the  development  of 
feeling.      Name  stories  which  tend  to  awaken  right  feelings. 

14.  Give  illustrations  showing  how  Christ  used  the  story  to 
awaken  feeling. 

15.  Give  the  ** Thought  for  the  Week"  in  your  own 
words.     Do  you  believe  it  ? 

PAGES    TO    BE   REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  pp.  3-6,  23-26  ;  chapter  on 
Feeling,  pp.    196-258. 

Special  attention  to  "The  Teacher's  Work." 
See  James'  Talks  to  Teachers,  chapters  I  and  II. 

LIST    OF   BOOKS    FOR   LIGHT    READING 

Being  a  Boy^  Charles  Dudley  Warner  ;  The  Boys  King  Arthur^ 
Sidney  Lanier  j  Real  Diary  of  a  Real  Boy,  Judge  Shute  ;  Just 
about  a  Boy,  W.  S.  Phillips  ;  Historic  Boys,  E.  S.  Brooks  ;  Ten 
Boys  on  the  Road,  etc. ,  Jane  Andrews  ;  Ben  Pepper,  Margaret 
Sidney  ;  Making  of  a  Man,  O.  S.  Marden  ;  Da'vid  Ransom  s  Watch, 
Mrs.  G.  R.  Alden  (Pansy)  ;  Physiology  for  Boys,  Mrs.  Shepherd ; 
Physiology  for  Girls,  Mrs.  Shepherd  ;  Se^en  Little  Sisters,  Jane  An- 
drews j  Girls  Who  Became  Famous,  Sarah  Knowles  Bolton  ;  Historic 
Girls,  E.  S.  Brooks  ;  Heidi,  Dole  (translator)  ;  Cordelia'' s  Pathnvay 
Out,  Edna  A.  Foster  j  St.  Cecilia  of  the  Court,  Isabella  Hess;  The 
Hoosier  Schoolboy,  Edward  Eggleston  ;  Emmy  Lou,  George  Maden 
Martin;  Beckonings from  Little  Hands,  Patterson  DuBois. 


[12] 


II 

CURIOSITY   AND    INTEREST 

As  you  have  carefully  read  and  thought  over  the  pages 
assigned  for  study  of  the  feelings,  I  am  sure  you  have 
realized  anew^  the  tremendous  power  they  have  in  the 
development  of  character.  Perhaps  already  a  new  note 
has  entered  your  teaching  as  you  have  realized  the  great 
help  which  sympathy,  rightly  directed,  gives  to  study,  to 
moral  training,  to  the  whole  complex  social  life.  Fear, 
anger,  desire  for  praise,  love,  sympathy,  respect,  rever- 
ence —  there  they  stand,  a  series  of  gates  opening  into 
the  courtyard  wherein  dwells  the  human  spirit.  Pray 
that  experience  shall  teach  you  how  to  open  them  with 
wisdom  and  care. 

We  said  last  week  that  the  three  pathways,  feeling, 
knowing,  willing,  act  and  react  upon  each  other,  makmg 
it  almost  impossible  to  analyze  an  act  and  place  it  defi- 
nitely under  one  head.  The  topic  we  are  now  to  take 
up  is  an  illustration  of  the  truth  of  that  statement. 

''The  Intellectual  Sentiment" 

There  is  a  certain  class  of  feelings  which  are  not  of 
the  senses  purely,  neither  can  they  be  classed  as  emo- 
tions. They  have  in  them  certain  intellectual  elements 
and  therefore  bend  toward  the  pathway  Knowing. 
They  include  also  some  action  of  the  will  and  so  touch 
the  pathway  "  Willing."  In  Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom, 
vou  will  find  these  classed  under  the  topic,  "  The  Intel- 

[13] 


TALKS   WITH   THE    TRAINING    CLASS 

lectual  Sentiment."  I  think  that  is  the  best  way  to 
define  them.  They  include  the  feelings  of  perplexity, 
curiosity  and  interest.  It  is  an  intensely  interesting 
group  which  we  can  touch  but  briefly. 

Curiosity 

Curiosity  is,  broadly  speaking,  "  desire  to  know."  We 
are  familiar  with  its  various  forms,  —  we  all  possess  it  in 
greater  or  less  degree.  It  acts  as  an  appetite  to  the 
mind.  It  is  natural  to  a  child.  It  is  an  open  door  into 
the  realm  of  knowledge. 

A  teacher  should  use  it  as  a  valuable  aid  in  gaining 
interest.  Above  the  primary  department  in  Sunday- 
school  I  have  found  very  little  to  awaken  the  curiosity 
of  the  child.  Perhaps  this  accounts  for  the  lack  of  in- 
terest in  many  instances.  There  are  scores  of  teachers 
who  do  awaken  it.  A  model  of  an  Eastern  well,  a 
scroll,  a  piece  of  papyrus,  a  striking  picture  of  places  or 
objects  mentioned  in  the  lesson,  the  use  of  a  large  pad 
for  drawing  —  all  these  serve  to  awaken  curiosity,  which 
will  easily  develop  into  interest  if  the  teacher  is  wise. 
Drawing  is  perhaps  the  best  way  by  which  the  Sunday- 
school  teacher  can  arouse  curiosity.  The  simplest 
drawing  is  always  the  best,  and  it  is  surprising  what  the 
average  teacher  who  "  can't  draw  "  can  do  with  a  little 
practise  and  courage.  Even  a  few  striking  words,  or 
the  main  thought  of  the  lesson  expressed  briefly  upon  the 
blackboard,  is  a  help.  Dr.  Schauffler's  blackboard  illus- 
trations, terse,  clear,  striking,  always  arouse  curiosity 
and  awaken  interest,  as  many  of  us  can  testify.  We 
can't  do  this  as  he  does  or  as  some  others  can,  but 
ability  grows  with  practise,  and  we  can  do  more  than 
we  dream  if  we  are  in   earnest. 

Pictures  are  another  means  of  arousing  curiosity.  I 
always   remember   with   pleasure   the    eager,    intelligent 

[14] 


CURIOSITY    AND    INTEREST 

questions  called  out  by  a  picture  of  a  huge  Bible,  attached 
by  heavy  chains  to  the  altar,  which  I  had  fastened  to 
the  blackboard,  saying  nothing  about  it.  "  The  Pilgrim 
Teacher "  pictures  and  others  have  been  published  in 
response  to  the  need  of  something  to  help  arouse  curi- 
osity and  make  the  right  impressions. 

Pictures  in  magazines  and  advertising  columns  often 
give  one  just  what  one  needs  to  arouse  curiosity.  I 
once  cut  from  the  advertising  pages  of  a  magazine  the 
picture  of  a  well-dressed,  fine-looking  young  man,  just 
raising  a  glass  of  champagne  to  his  lips,  and  from 
another  page,  the  picture  of  a  busy,  city  street  where 
a  young  man  hatless,  collarless,  in  an  intoxicated  con- 
dition leaned  helplessly  against  a  corner  saloon,  while 
the  crowd  passed  by.  I  pasted  these  side  by  side  on  a 
piece  of  manila  paper.  The  fourteen-year-old  boys 
whom  I  was  to  teach  looked  bored  as  they  opened  their 
quarterlies  to  the  temperance  lesson.  I  said,  "  We 
won't  use  quarterlies  yet.  I  have  here  the  subject  of  the 
lesson,  the  place,  the  chief  characters  and  the  text.  I 
want  you  to  tell  me  what  they  are,  for  not  a  word  is 
written."  Then  I  unrolled  my  paper.  I  wish  you 
might  have  heard  the  answers.  Their  curiosity  led  to 
interest  and  it  was  with  a  different  feeling  that  they 
opened  the  quarterlies  again,  and  found  the  same  truths 
stated  there.  I  have  done  this  scores  of  times  by  the 
use  of  advertisements  and  magazine  pictures. 

Object-teaching  is  also  useful  in  arousing  curiosity. 
I  once  gained  the  attention  of  fifty  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Juniors 
by  a  large  piece  of  wood,  perfectly  good  on  the  outside, 
but  completely  destroyed  on  the  inside  by  the  work  of 
insects.  Their  curiosity  enabled  me  to  gain  interest 
and  impress  the  lesson. 

I  had  at  one  time  a  bright,  happy,  light-hearted  boy, 
who  spent  at  least  one-third  of  the  day  laughing.     He 

[15] 


TALKS  WITH   THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

laughed  at  everything,  and  as  his  mother  said,  "  at 
nothing."  This  habit  was  exceedingly  annoying  and 
yet  the  instant  his  curiosity  was  aroused  he  became 
serious,  attentive  and  deeply  interested.  His  curiosity 
led  him  to  find  out  things  other  children  of  his  age 
knew  nothing  about,  and  on  questions  of  general  infor- 
mation he  was  always  ready.  Each  morning  he  had  a 
new  question  for  me.  "  Why  do  they  build  all  gas- 
houses  round  ?  '*  "  When  a  caterpillar  spins  a  cocoon, 
does  he  know  he  is  going  to  come  out  a  butterfly  ?  " 
"  What  is  a  coal-breaker,  and  how  does  it  work  ?  "  I 
was  obliged  to  appeal  to  him  through  curiosity,  if  I  hoped 
to  reach  him  at  all.  One  occasionally  meets  children 
of  his  type. 

However,  there  is  an  element  of  danger  in  all  these 
things.  Too  many  pictures  or  objects  in  one  lesson, 
the  introduction  of  anything  which  excites  curiosity  at 
the  wrong  moment,  must  be  avoided.  The  teacher 
must  be  on  the  watch  for  questions  asked  for  the  sake 
of  asking,  or  in  order  to  appear  interested.  If  one  can 
be  on  his  guard  against  the  harmful  kind  of  curiosity 
and  encourage  the  kind  which  seeks  for  knowledge  he 
has  a  powerful  ally.  Observe  carefully  children  of  your 
acquaintance  and  see  how  curiosity  is  constantly  leading 
to  investigation  and  knowledge.  As  you  prepare  your 
lesson  for  next  Sunday  plan  something  to  awaken  curi- 
osity. Make  the  look  of  surprise  and  anticipation,  which 
is  such  a  reward  to  the  teacher,  light  up  the  faces  of  your 
children.  Be  sure  that  you  use  something  which  will 
lead  to  interest  in  the  thing  you  have  decided  to  teach. 

Interest 

Interest  is  the  name  given  to  the  feelings  of  pleasure 
or  pain  which  arouse  the  mind  to  activity.  I  wish  I 
could  write    that  word    activity  in   capital   letters   over 

[i6] 


CURIOSITY    AND   INTEREST 

every  question  the  teacher  uses  in  Sunday-school. 
There  should  be  something  in  every  question  to  arouse 
the  mind  of  every  child.  The  illustrations  ought  to 
awaken  his  mental  faculties  and  make  them  work.  The 
story  you  tell  should  cause  him  to  feel  pleasure  or  pain, 
so  that  his  mind  responds  and  attention,  memory,  im- 
agination, all  cooperate  to  make  it  real  teaching. 

Is  this  true  of  the  lesson  material  I  am  preparing  for 
next  Sunday  ?  I  ask  myself  that  question.  Sometimes 
I  answer  it  by  drawing  a  pencil  through  some  question 
or  illustration  I  meant  to  use. 

Let  us  remember  that  to  interest  does  not  of  necessity 
mean  to  amuse,  to  entertain,  but  to  arouse  activity  in 
the  child,  to  make  his  mind  work. 

Interest,  as  we  have  seen,  depends  upon,  and  is  awak- 
ened by  the  right  kind  of  curiosity.  I  wanted  a  new 
way  to  teach  evaporation.  I  took  four  saucers,  put  a 
little  water  in  each  and  set  them  on  the  table.  At 
noon  I  was  asked  many  questions.  "  What  is  in 
them  ?  "  "  Just  water."  "  What  are  you  going  to 
do  with  them  ?  "  "  Leave  them  till  morning."  No 
saucers,  I  am  sure,  ever  proved  more  interesting  than 
did  they,  all  the  afternoon.  Next  morning  they  were 
the  first  objects  of  interest  as  the  children  came  in. 
After  opening  exercises  I  said,  "  Have  you  looked  at  the 
saucers  this  morning  ? "  A  host  of  waving  hands  an- 
swered me.  "The  water  has  gone."  "  Gone  where  ?  " 
said  I.  I  wish  I  could  reproduce  the  lesson.  As 
many  children  as  I  could  call  upon  had  something  to 
say. 

Among  these  answers  I  got  what  I  wanted,  and  by 
keeping  curiosity  awake,  could  deepen  interest  as  I  made 
them  see  the  great  areas  of  rapid  evaporation,  the  effect 
upon  climate  and  civilization.  When  I  was  in  school 
I  learned  the  definition  of  evaporation  from  a  text-book. 

[17] 


TALKS    WITH    THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

There  is  a  difference,  and  just  that  difference  exists  be- 
tween a  good  and  a  poor  way  of  presenting  truth  in 
Sunday-school. 

Then,  too,  interest  depends  upon  a  certain  amount  of 
previous  knowledge.  A  child  cannot  be  interested  in  a 
thing  of  which  he  knows  absolutely  nothing.  He  must 
know  a  little,  and  by  using  that  little  wisely  we  can  widen 
his  horizon  more  and  more.  A  child  living  on  the  edge 
of  a  great  level  stretch  of  desert,  would  not  be  greatly 
interested  in  your  first  story  of  "  Coasting  in  Winter." 
Notice  the  new  ideas  he  would  have  to  meet :  "  snow," 
"  hill,"  "  sled,"  and  others  —  familiar  to  us,  but  utterly 
unknown  to  him.  We  must  '-^  proceed  from  the  known 
to  the  unknown^ 

On  the  other  hand  if  a  child  is  perfectly  familiar  with 
what  you  are  teaching  it  is  hard  to  gain  interest.  In 
every  lesson  there  must  be  something  old  to  use  as  a 
foundation  and  something  new  to  build  upon  it. 

The  matter  of  age  makes  such  a  difference  here.  It 
is  particularly  noticeable  in  the  telling  of  a  story.  The 
child  of  five  so  often  meets  your  story  with  the  demand 
that  you  "  tell  it  again,"  while  the  child  of  nine  says, 
"  I  have  heard  that  story  about  a  hundred  times ;  tell 
me  a  new  one."  In  the  teaching  of  any  subject  the 
great  problem  is  how  to  give  drill  enough  to  impress 
the  truth  and  still  keep  curiosity  active  and  interest 
sustained. 

Children's  Interests 

Many  of  us  have  failed  of  our  best  in  teaching  be- 
cause we  have  known  nothing  of  our  children's  interests. 
One  of  the  most  helpful  studies  I  ever  made  was  from 
a  collection  of  papers  written  by  my  pupils  for  several 
years  upon  the  subjects,  "  What  I  like  to  do  best  be- 
tween four  o'clock  and  six,"  "  What  I  like  to  do  best 

[i8] 


CURIOSITY    AND   INTEREST 

between  six  and  eight,"  "The  stories  I  like  best,  and 
why."  Through  these  papers  I  gained  much  valuable 
knowledge  of  lines  of  interest  along  which  I  could  work 
in  my  teaching. 

Each  year  from  my  study  of  these  papers,  and  the 
pupils  who  wrote  them,  I  have  been  obliged  to  come  to 
the  same  conclusion,  namely,  that  all  children  are  in- 
tensely interested  in  life  and  in  great  principles  and 
truths  as  they  touch  life ;  that  they  are  not  interested  in 
abstract  statements  of  truth  apart  from  life. 

Take,  for  example,  duty  to  God,  which  implies  rev- 
erence, love  and  worship  ;  duty  to  self,  —  temperance, 
courage,  self-respect;  and  duty  to  others,  —  absolute 
justice  and  real  charity.  In  the  abstract  these  mean 
nothing  to  the  child  ;  they  have  no  attraction  for  him. 
When  we  are  planting  our  school  gardens,  the  seeds 
chosen  first  are  always  those  with  colored  illustrations 
of  flower  or  fruit.  In  order  to  have  these  seeds  of  duty 
desired  by  children  they  must  be  put  up  in  packages 
which  interest  and  attract.  I  do  this  every  time  I 
teach  of  a  real  live  boy  in  his  struggle  to  be  honest ; 
every  time  a  self-sacrifice  makes  the  hero  I  present  one 
they  all  desire  to  follow  ;  every  time  I  use  illustrations 
from  lives  of  boys  and  girls  reared  in  poverty  and  sin 
who  have  struggled  to  rise  above  their  condition  and 
won ;  and  whenever  I  present  vividly  the  great  characters 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  —  in  fact,  every  time 
I  connect  a  great  truth  with  a  man,  woman  or  child 
who  has  lived  it.  Knowing  these  things,  I  must  profit 
by  them  in  preparing  the  work  for  my  Sunday-school, 
else   I  cannot   hope   for  success. 

In  a  later  chapter  we  shall  see  the  important  place 
which  interest  plays  in  gaining  and  holding  attention, 
and  realize  the  fact  that  good  discipline  without  interest 
is   impossible.       More    than    that   we    must    constantly 

[19] 


TALKS    WITH    THE    TRAINING    CLASS 

remember  that  unless  we  are  interested  we  cannot  in- 
terest others. 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

Real  curiosity  leads  to  interest.  Interest  means  at- 
tention, attention  means  knowledge,  and  knowledge 
influences  character  and  conduct.  It  is  an  endless 
chain.     Strengthen   the  links. 

History  shows  us  no  perfect  men,  no  faultless  teach- 
ers, but  through  the  ages  the  eternal  God  has  spoken 
to  human  hearts  and  revealed  truth.  He  still  speaks. 
He  can  —  through  you. 

FOR    DISCUSSION 

1 .  Name  the  gates  in  the  pathway  Feeling. 

2.  What  should  a  child  be  taught  to  fear  ?  to  love  ? 

3.  How  do  you  treat  a  child's  love  of  praise  ? 

4.  What  is   meant   by  the  phrase   the   **  intellectual   sen- 


timent 


5.  What  is  curiosity  ? 

6.  Why  should  a  teacher  make  use  of  it  ? 

7.  Suggest   ways   by   which   curiosity   may   be  awakened. 
Give  three  original  suggestions. 

8.  What   elements   of  danger  in    all   these    **  means "    of 
arousing  curiosity  ? 

9.  What  is  interest  ? 

10.  Upon  what  does  interest  depend  ? 

11.  When  does  a  child's  interest  in  a  thing  cease?     What 
then  ? 

12.  Do   you   know    the    things    in   which   your   pupils   are 
interested  ? 

13.  In  what  do  all  children  seem  to  be  interested  ?     What 
fails  to  interest  them  ?      How  should  this  affect  our  teaching  ? 

14.  What  two  things  necessary  for  good  teaching  depend 
upon  interest  ? 

[20] 


CURIOSITY   AND   INTEREST 

15.  Do  your  personal  "  interests '»  make  any  difference  in 
your  teaching  ? 

16.  In  order  to  interest  a   class,   how  much   of  a   twenty 
mmute  period  should  a  teacher  talk  ? 

17.  Give  in  your  own  words  the  thought  for  the  week. 

PAGES    TO    BE    REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  Curiosity  and  Interest,   pp     32 
33,  254-257  ;  Summary,  p.  258.      Just  to  make  you  think,  read 
pp.  259-279. 

History  of  Christianity,  pp.   13-38. 

Kemp's  History,  pp.  66-75. 

See  James'  Talks  to  Teachers,  chapter  X. 


[21] 


Ill 

MEMORY 

It  was  evening  and  an  old  man  sat  at  the  window 
gazing  out  into  the  darkening  street.  But  he  did  not 
see  the  shadows  falling  over  the  tiny  green  leaves  which 
that  day  had  reached  out  for  the  sunshine.  He  was  far 
away  across  the  plains  amid  the  mountains  of  his  early 
home.  There  was  a  smile  upon  his  face,  a  smile  that 
trembled  and  died  away  only  to  shine  out  again.  There 
was  a  light  of  joy,  a  shade  of  sorrow  and  then  a  calm 
content  in  his  faded  eyes.  The  old  man  was  dreaming. 
He  was  gazing  at  the  pictures  hung  through  the  years 
in  memory's  long,  winding  gallery.  When  the  lamps 
were  lighted  and  the  children  begged  for  stories,  for  help 
on  lessons,  for  experiences  in  the  war,  he  looked  again 
at  the  pictures,  gave  them  the  stories  they  loved,  growing 
young  again  as  he  looked  into  their  bright  faces  and 
answered  their  eager  questions. 

What  if  he  had  not  remembered  ?  What  if  the  years 
with  all  their  store  of  knowledge,  their  joys  and  sorrows, 
had  been  blotted  out  ?  How  hard  the  days  would  have 
been,  how  cheerless  the  long  twilight ! 

How  marvelous  it  is  —  this  thing  we  call  memory! 
With  what  intense  interest  we  can  study  it,  test  it,  strive 
to  cultivate  it !  Without  it  every  other  faculty  of  the 
mind  is  warped  and  stilted.  Indeed  without  memory 
and  attention  mental  growth  is  impossible.  With  an 
earnest  desire  to  know  all  we  can  about  it,  we  turn   for 

[22] 


MEMORY 

the   present   from  the   pathway   Feeling,   and  open  our 
study  of  Knowledge,  by  an  effort  to  understand  Memory. 

Memory 

Memory  is  the  act  of  the  mind  by  which  it  retains 
and  reproduces  ideas  which  it  has  gained.  Every  act  of 
memory  really  includes  three  acts.  First  the  mind  takes 
hold  of  an  idea ;  this  is  called  apprehension ;  then  the  idea 
is  kept  hidden  away  in  the  mind,  which  is  retention ; 
finally  it  is  brought  back  when  desired,  and  this  is 
reproduction.  As  we  commonly  speak  of  memory,  it 
means  the  second  and  third  acts,  that  is,  the  power  to 
retain   and  reproduce  ideas. 

The  power  to  reproduce  an  idea  depends  upon  two 
things :  first  the  impression  which  is  made  upon  the 
mind,  and  second  the  association  with  other  ideas  already 
in  the  mind.  If  we  could  teach  every  fact  we  want  our 
pupils  to  remember  in  such  a  way  that  a  deep  impression 
and  natural  association  are  made,  we  might  be  sure  of 
success. 

Have  you  ever  used  carbon  paper  and  lead-pencil  in 
making  copies  ?  If  you  have,  you  know  the  harder  you 
bear  on,  the  deeper  impression  and  clearer  reproduction 
you  get.  In  some  measure  this  is  true  when  you  write 
upon  the  minds  of  children.  There  is  this  difference, 
however :  carbon  paper  is  made  very  much  alike.  It  is 
passive.  But  the  brain  material  of  these  boys  and  girls 
of  ours  is  entirely  unlike,  and  it  reacts.  The  thing 
which  will  make  a  deep  impression,  be  retained,  and 
reproduced  clearly  by  the  child  with  excellent  memory, 
meets  a  different  fate  with  the  faithful  plodder  who  takes 
in  slowly,  requires  endless  repetition,  but  in  the  end 
retains,  and  reproduces  slowly  and  painfully.  It  meets 
still  a  different  fate  with  the  really  dull  child,  or  with 
the  child  who  takes  in  quickly,  reproduces  easily,  but 

[23] 


TALKS   WITH   THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

has  no  power  of  retention,  and  cannot  tell  to-morrow 
what  he  seemed  to  know  to-day.  As  we  have  seen  in 
our  previous  study,  to  work  to  the  greatest  advantage 
we  must  know  our  children. 

We  may  be  sure  of  this  general  truth  :  the  deeper  the 
impression  made,  the  longer  the  mind  will  retain  the 
idea  and  the  more  easily  reproduce  it. 

How   Impressions  Are   Made 

One  day  when  I  was  in  the  eighth  grade  my  teacher 
cried  because  one  of  the  boys  had  been  arrested  for 
stealing.  It  made  a  tremendous  impression  upon  all 
of  us.  Years  after,  when  several  of  the  class  met  in  re- 
union, we  spoke  of  this  teacher,  and  some  one  immedi- 
ately asked,  "  Can  you  ever  forget  the  day  she  cried  ?  " 
None  of  us  had  forgotten.  Why  did  it  make  such  an 
impression  ?  Because  it  was  so  unusual.  She  was 
generally  calm  and  undisturbed.  None  of  us  had  ever 
seen  a  teacher  cry.  The  strangeness  of  it  made  the 
impression  deep  and  it  stayed.  We  can  all  give  hundreds 
of  experiences  to  illustrate  this  point,  —  accidents,  times 
of  special  joy  or  sorrow,  great  events  in  our  lives,  which 
made  us  say,  "  I  shall  never  forget  as  long  as  I  live." 

There  are  other  things  in  our  lives  which  have  made 
deep  impressions  for  an  entirely  different  reason.  They 
stay  with  us  simply  because  we  have  heard  them  so 
many  times.  Repetition  has  impressed  them  so  deeply 
that  they   stay. 

Oftentimes  a  child  picking  daisies  in  the  field,  a  pic- 
ture of  a  bit  of  summer  sea  in  the  moonlight,  the  sudden 
glimpse  of  a  pure  white  Easter  lily,  will  call  up  for  us  a 
long  train  of  memories,  because  these  things  are  similar 
to  other  experiences  and  impressions  of  the  past.  They 
"  remind  "  us.  An  act  of  memory  takes  place  through 
the  force  of  association. 

[24] 


MEMORY 

Sometimes  we  remember  things  easily  because  of  the 
sequence  of  ideas.  We  learn  the  multiplication  table 
and  names  of  the  books  of  the  Bible  in  this  way.  In 
technical  terms  we  say  that  memory  follows  the  law 
of  contiguity  and  we  can  remember  because  things 
which  occur  together,  or  are  impressed  in  close  succes- 
sion upon  the  mind,  or  are  connected  through  cause  and 
effect,  tend  to  recall  each  other. 

The  Application  for  the  Sunday-school  Teacher 

What  good  will  knowledge  of  these  facts  do  the 
Sunday-school  teacher  ?  Personally,  it  has  made  me 
think  carefully  about  the  material  I  am  to  present  to  my 
child.  It  has  made  me  ask  myself  what  there  is  in  it  to 
make  an  impression,  and  to  teach  that  thing.  There 
may  always  be  the  impressive  manner.  The  term 
"impressive  speaker"  is  a  common  one.  There  are 
"  impressive  teachers."  If  one  believes  that  what  he  is 
to  teach  has  vital  good  in  it  for  his  children  then  his 
manner  will  show  it.  There  are  some  things  in  Sunday- 
school  lessons  which  I  cannot  teach  children.  I  am 
convinced  that  they  are  of  no  value  to  the  child.  If  I 
attempted  to  teach  them  it  would  be  saying  words^  which 
is  never  teaching. 

As  I  realize  in  my  study  of  memory  that  ability  to 
retain  and  reproduce  depends  upon  the  power  of  the 
impression,  I  must  think  of  ways  to  make  the  impression 
powerful.  I  must  have  new  ways  to  open  the  lesson, 
differing  from,  "  Now,  children,  what  is  our  lesson 
about  to-day  ?  "  Some  months  ago,  one  of  my  teachers 
being  absent,  I  took  his  class  of  boys,  about  twelve  years 
old.  When  I  went  into  the  class  I  sat  down  in  the 
teacher's  chair  and  waited  a  moment.  They  opened 
their  quarterlies  ;  I  closed  mine.  I  said,  —  "  There  was 
such    a  crowd   you   couldn't   even    get   near   the   door. 

[25] 


TALKS   WITH   THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

This  was  partly  because  the  street  was  so  narrow  and  the 
houses  arranged  like  this,"  and  I  slipped  out  my  picture, 
gave  a  few  words  of  explanation  and  put  it  away.  "  But  it 
was  mostly  because  everybody  wanted  to  hear  the  man  who 
was  speaking  and  see  the  wonderful  things  he  was  doing." 

An  impression  was  made  at  the  very  beginning  because 
it  was  a  new  way  of  starting  out.  By  question,  illustra- 
tion and  story  I  had  to  deepen  that  impression,  until 
they  saw  the  roof  torn  up,  the  man  let  down,  the  miracle 
performed  and  knew  that  Jesus  not  only  cured  the  man 
but  forgave  him.  Weeks  after  when  I  asked  for  that 
miracle  I  got  it  from  this  class. 

The  study  of  memory  helps  me  to  realize  how  im- 
portant it  is  to  drill  on  what  I  have  taught.  It  makes 
me  seek  new  ways  to  ask  old  questions.  It  makes  me 
appeal  to  eye,  ear,  hand,  every  entrance  and  faculty  by 
which  I  can  hope  to  impress  important  things.  To  me, 
general  knowledge  of  each  book  of  the  Bible  seems 
important.  With  that  in  mind,  I  take,  for  example, 
Joshua.  I  refer  to  him  constantly,  comparing  him  with 
other  heroes.  I  refer  to  Jericho,  to  the  Jordan,  wherever 
it  is  profitable  in  other  lessons.  Finally  I  test :  I  say, 
"  I  am  thinking  of  the  letter  J.  J  makes  me  think  of 
a  book,  a  man,  a  river,  a  city.  Can  you  name  them  ?  " 
Eager  hands  answer  me.  Next  Sunday  I  ask,  "  About 
what  does  the  book  of  Joshua  tell  ?  "  I  get  these  four 
things  promptly  ;  later  I  test  to  see  if  they  have  stayed. 
In  the  same  way  I  can  let  the  contents  of  Genesis  or 
Kings  cluster  about  the  important  men,  being  careful  not 
to  burden  the  memory  with  endless  detail.  According 
to  what  laws  of  memory  have  I  been  working  ? 

The  study  of  memory  makes  me  realize  that  isolated 
facts  do  not  stay  long  in  the  mind  ;  that  ideas  must  be 
associated  with  other  ideas  if  they  are  to  remain.  Then 
I  begin  to  think  about   certain   Golden   Texts.     Their 

[26] 


MEMORY 

connection  is  often  so  slight  that  I  have  to  think  a  long 
time  before  I  find  it. 

I  have  found  very  few  children  who  remember  these 
isolated  texts,  but  a  great  many  have  been  able  to  give  a 
dozen  verses  about  Love  and  as  many  more  about  Faith. 
Try  it  and  see  if  I  am  right. 

The  study  of  memory  has  helped  me  realize  that  there 
is  a  period  in  a  child's  life  when  he  cannot  reason  and  it 
is  useless  to  appeal  to  him  through  that  avenue,  but  he 
can  remember.  This  is  the  time  to  give  him  things  to 
remember.  From  the  time  he  is  able  first  to  "  learn  by 
heart "  up  to  the  eleventh  year  certainly,  I  can  give  him 
the  best  chapters,  psalms  and  hymns  to  learn,  and  if  he 
learns  them  then  they  will  stay. 

When  the  reason  begins  to  act,  I  must  change  my 
method  of  impressing  upon  the  memory.  Then  comes 
my  opportunity  to  search  for  natural  associations,  for 
similarities  and  contrasts,  and  to  make  comparisons. 
For  this  reason  about  the  sixteenth  year  is  a  good  time 
to  have  comparisons  between  Moses,  Saul,  David  and 
St.  Paul.  Through  these  comparisons  the  characteristics 
and  the  important  events,  with  the  consequent  influence 
upon  the  life  of  each,  may  be  fixed. 

You  will  feel  the  importance  of  association  of  ideas  as 
a  means  of  impression  if  you  test  your  own  memory  on 
long  lists  of  words  like,  "  apple,  railroad,  pencil,  chair,'* 
etc.,  where  there  is  no  natural  association,  and  a  list 
like,  "  fire,  smoke,  water,  engine,  hose,"  etc.,  where  a 
natural  association  does  exist.  Indeed  to  search  for  nat- 
ural association  of  ideas  becomes  one  of  the  most  important 
factors  in  preparing  a  lesson. 

In  a  word,  the  study  of  memory  as  a  faculty  is  helpful 
to  me  as  a  Sunday-school  teacher  because  it  makes  me 
think.  And  a  thinking  teacher  is  a  growing  teacher,  the 
only  kind  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  Sunday-school. 

[27] 


TALKS   WITH   THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

We  teach,  and  impatiently  cry  for  results.  God 
teaches  and  with  majestic  patience  waits  through  the 
years  for  the  lesson  to  be  learned.  We  see  the  sowing 
and  are  sometimes  discouraged.  God  sees  the  ultimate 
harvest,  and  there  is  no  discouragement  with  him. 

FOR   DISCUSSION 

1.  What  is  memory  ? 

2.  What  does  an  act  of  memory  include  ? 

3.  What  is  meant  by  apprehension  ?      By  retention  ?     By 
reproduction  ?      Illustrate. 

4.  Upon  what  does  power  to  reproduce  ideas  depend  ? 

5.  How  are  impressions  made  ? 

6.  How  does  kno^vledge  of  these  things  benefit  a  Sunday- 
school  teacher  ? 

7.  How  should  the  age  of  pupils  influence  what  is  required 
of  the  memory  ? 

8.  For  what  should  a  teacher  search  in  the  preparation  of 
every  lesson  ?     Why  ? 

9.  Is    it    possible   to   teach   so   that    all    children    will   re- 
member ?     Give  reasons  for  your  answer. 

10.  What  do  you  really  mean  when  you  say,  **  I  can't 
remember"  ? 

1 1.  Can  memory  be  cultivated  ?     Illustrate. 

12.  Suggest  ways  by  which  important  ev^ents  in  the  life  of 
Christ  may  be  impressed.  What  law  of  memory  did  you 
follow  in  your  suggestion  ? 

13.  Which  makes  a  deeper  impression,  words,  or  things? 
How  should  this  influence  teachers  ? 

14.  Give  the  thought  for  the  week  in  your  own  words. 

15.  What  is  your  weakest  link  ? 

PAGES    TO    BE   REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  pp.  1 14-138.  Special  atten- 
tion, pp.  118,  119,  132,  134,  137. 

[2g] 


MEMORY 

History  of  Christianity,  pp.   38-56. 

Report  to  class  the  illustration  of  a  mother's  prayer  and  a 
of  Scripture. 

Kemp's  History,  pp.  329-346. 

See  James'  Talks  to  Teachers,  chapter  XII. 


[29] 


IV 
IMAGINATION 

I  HAVE  been  sitting  in  a  crowded,  noisy  accommoda- 
tion train  for  the  last  hour  but  I  did  not  know  it.  I 
might  not  know  it  now  if  the  conductor  had  not  called 
out  "Tickets,  please,"  right  beside  me.  I  have  been 
spending  the  hour  in  a  land  where  I  would  like  to  go 
often.  It  is  a  good  place  to  forget  the  hard,  bare  pov- 
erty of  facts  for  a  little  while,  and  rejoice  in  the  wealth 
which  it  has  to  offer.  It  is  a  land  where  one  may 
always  be  sure  of  good  company,  for  poets,  artists,  mu- 
sicians and  inventors  visit  it  often  and  come  back  to 
give  to  the  world  a  "  Divine  Comedy,"  a  "  Last 
Supper,"  a  "  Tannhauser "  or  a  "  telegraph."  It  is 
the  realm  of  the  imagination. 

I  spent  this  morning  in  a  country  far  across  the  sea 
at  Horeb  where  Moses  received  the  commission  to  go 
unto  Pharaoh.  I  saw  his  look  of  astonishment  and  dis- 
may as  he  answered  the  Voice  from  the  bush  saying, 
"  Who  am  I,  that  I  should  go  unto  Pharaoh  ?  .  .  .  I 
am  slow  of  speech,  and  of  a  slow  tongue."  I  heard  the 
searching  question  in  reply,  "  Who  hath  made  man's 
mouth  ?  ...  is  it  not  I,  Jehovah  ?  .  .  .  Go,  and  I 
will  .  .  .  teach  thee  what  thou  shalt  speak."  And  the 
shepherd  was  not  simply  one  called  Moses,  a  famous 
Hebrew  dead  long  ago.  He  lived,  he  was  real,  I  knew 
him  and  as  the  train  rushed  on  I  heard  over  and  over 
again  his  words,  so  like  the  words  of  to-day  in  the  world 
of  facts,  —  "  Send  thou  by  the  hand  of  another." 

[30] 


IMAGINATION 

How  could  he  become  so  real  to  me  ?  Because  of  one 
of  the  most  wonderful  powers  given  to  man,  that  of  the 
imagination.  It  is  a  power  which  many  engaged  in  the 
training  and  development  of  boys  and  girls  have  feared 
and  with  some  reason.  The  over-stimulated  imagina- 
tion certainly  works  evil.  The  person  who  spends  his 
leisure  in  building  castles  and  enjoying  day-dreams  of 
greatness  to  be  his  sometime  is  not  usually  the  one  who 
does  the  work  of  the  world.  He  sees  the  thing  done 
and  fails  to  see  the  process.  The  books  filled  with  the 
wholly  impossible  stories  which  find  their  way  into  the 
hands  of  our  boys  and  girls  have  done  untold  harm  in 
this  way  as  well  as  by  provoking  deeds  which  have 
wrecked  their  lives.  I  wonder  how  many  Sunday- 
school  teachers  know  what  stories  are  interesting  the 
children  in  their  teens.  This  of  course  is  the  parents' 
business,  but  so  often  when  parents  fail  it  becomes  the 
business  of  the  teacher.  For  some  years  it  has  been  a 
problem  with  me  how  one  may  best  make  boys  who  are 
reading  this  trash,  which  is  sure  to  send  them  out  on 
wrong  paths,  see  the  utter  impossibility  of  the  story 
which  to  their  imagination  is  so  interesting  and  probable. 
By  knowing  when  to  say  just  the  right  word  one  may 
exert  an  influence  which  shall  transform  this  wonderful 
faculty  from  a  source  of  evil  to  one  of  great  good. 

Constructive  imagination  rightly  used  is  a  most  won- 
derful power  of  the  mind.  It  has  made  the  progress 
of  the  world  possible.  Columbus  constructed  in  his 
imagination  a  northwest  passage  to  India  and  it  led  him 
to  a  new  world.  All  the  triumphs  of  science  were  at 
first  theories  and  existed  only  in  the  imaginations  of 
men.  The  child  uses  constructive  imagination  every 
time  he  takes  the  blocks  given  him  and  builds  his  house. 
To  find  what  we  can  do  to  help  rightly  develop  this 
power   is  the  purpose   of   our  study.     If  we  limit   the 

[31] 


TALKS   WITH    THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

imagination,  crush  it,  or  confine  it,  we  may  be  depriving 
the  world  of  a  poet,  inventor  or  musician.  If  we  let  it 
run  riot  we  may  give  to  the  world  a  fanciful,  impulsive 
dreamer  or  one  so  addicted  to  exaggeration  that  his  word 
cannot  be  trusted.  It  is  because  of  the  possibilities  of 
imagination  that  it  is  worth  the  most  earnest  study  by  a 
training-class  of  Sunday-school  teachers. 

Imaginative  Power  Differs 

All  children  have  not  the  same  power  of  imagination. 
Most  children  have  some,  and  for  the  first  seven  years 
exercise  it  freely.  This  is  the  time  when  facts  and 
fancies  get  into  a  very  confused  state;  when  fairies 
people  the  wood,  imaginary  children  come  to  play  in 
the  garden,  stones  talk,  and  "  Red  Riding  Hood  "  and 
the  "  Three  Bears  "  are  a  source  of  constant  delight. 
But  this  period  is  comparatively  short.  What  we  can 
do  with  it  and  whether  it  is  a  way  by  which  we  can  get 
into  the  mind  of  the  child  the  things  we  want  there,  are 
questions  which  interest  us. 

One  Sunday  I  walked  home  from  Sunday-school  with 
a  little  five-year-old  girl.  She  had  a  yellow  daffodil  in 
her  hand  and  showed  it  to  me  proudly.  "  My  teacher 
gave  me  this,"  she  said,  "  and  it  says  something."  I 
took  it,  listened  and  confessed  I  could  not  hear  what  it 
said.  "I  guess  I'll  have  to  tell  you,"  she  said.  "It 
says,  '  Be  like  merry  sunshine ' ;  that's  what  it  says. 
You  put  it  in  a  vase  and  fresh  water  every  day  and  in 
the  morning  when  you  look  at  it,  it  nods  its  head  like 
this  and  says,  '  Be  like  merry  sunshine,'  and  then  you 
mustn't  be  cross  once  all  day.  When  Jesus  was  a  little 
boy  he  was  like  merry  sunshine  all  the  time." 

Yes,  I  could  see  the  nodding  head  now  and  as  I  looked 
out  came  the  words.  I  am  sure  that  little  tot  was  a 
better  child  because  of  what  the  daffodil  taught  her.     She 

[32] 


IMAGINATION 

knew  what  the  "  white,  white  Hly "  said,  too.  Her 
teacher  was  wise.  Birds  and  flowers  can  talk  ;  it  is  only 
that  we  cannot  understand. 

The  singing  angel  chorus,  the  shepherds,  the  tiny  baby 
in  the  manger  on  that  first  glad  Christmas  night,  how 
real  they  are  in  those  early  years  !  So  firmly  fixed  by 
the  power  of  imagination  are  they  that  all  the  after  years 
cannot  quite  wear  out  the  glow  as  we  remember. 

The  power  of  young  children  to  make  real  and  living 
the  facts  given  them  offers  a  splendid  opportunity  to  the 
wise  teacher  to  make  vivid  the  Bible  stories  so  full  of 
imagery.  Have  you  ever  heard  a  five  or  six-year-old 
repeat  the  story  of  the  baby  Moses  after  it  had  been  well 
told  ?  Nothing  can  be  more  real.  Your  own  imagina- 
tion must  be  dead  if  you  do  not  see  a  real  live  baby  in  a 
basket,  "  about  as  big  as  that."  Pictures  help  so  much 
and  it  is  so  necessary  that  they  be  true  conceptions. 
Sometimes  I  think  that  the  teacher  of  young  children 
needs,  more  than  anything  else,  the  ability  to  tell  a  story 
and  the  sympathy  which  will  keep  her  from  telling  that 
which  is  horrible  or  shocking  to  a  child. 

But  how  about  our  ten  and  twelve-year-olds  ?  Now 
fancy  begins  to  give  place  to  fact.  Yet  this  is  the  time 
for  constructive  imagination  to  act  as  a  powerful  aid, 
though  the  basis  is  changed.  Nowhere  in  all  the  world 
can  one  get  something  out  of  nothing.  We  sometimes 
think  that  the  imagination  creates,  but  it  does  not.  In 
all  spheres  of  knowledge  and  life  there  is  but  one  Crea- 
tor. Imagination  builds  up  "  images  "  and  makes  real 
something  which  has  come  from  the  material  within  the 
mind.  Take  an  Indian,  for  example,  who  has  never 
seen  a  house  of  any  sort.  He  has  lived  in  a  wigwam  in 
the  wilds  of  the  forest.  He  cannot  imagine  a  modern 
house.  There  is  nothing  on  which  the  imagination  can 
build.     But  let  him  once  see  a  house,  even  though  it  be 

[33] 


TALKS    WITH   THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

poor  and  mean ;  he  then  has  a  basis,  and  though  he 
cannot  get  a  clear  image  of  the  modern  house  in  all  its 
detail  he  can  get  some  conception  of  it.  One  can  help 
him  imagine  a  larger  house,  more  rooms,  more  windows, 
better  furniture.  In  the  revelation  of  St.  John  the 
apostle  creates  no  new  thing.  He  has  streets^  but  of 
gold,  a  river  of  crystal,  gates  of  pearl,  a  tree  of  life.  St. 
John  has  used  the  only  terms  he  knew,  but  by  making 
the  streets  of  gold  and  the  gates  of  precious  pearl,  he 
has  tried  to  picture  the  beauty,  the  grandeur,  the  wonder 
of  heaven. 

To  me  this  is  a  fact  of  tremendous  significance  — 
first  to  me  as  teacher,  and  then  to  my  pupils  because  of 
my  teaching.  Unless  I  have  in  my  own  mind  because 
of  reading,  study,  pictures,  travel  or  conversation  with 
travelers,  some  idea  of  Eastern  dwellings,  cities  and 
customs,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  imagine  the  story 
of  "  The  Lost  Coin,"  "  The  Prodigal  Son,"  "  The  Lost 
Sheep."  And  unless  to  me  these  scenes  are  clear  and 
real  through  the  power  of  my  imagination  which  is  based 
upon  the  material  already  in  my  mind,  I  cannot  help  to 
make  it  clear  to  my  children.  More  than  that,  unless 
through  pictures  of  Oriental  scenes  or  vivid  word  pic- 
tures I  have  given  my  child  something  with  which  to 
construct  in  his  imagination  the  scene  I  am  describing, 
it  cannot  be  real  to  him.  It  is  because  I  realize  the 
great  importance  of  these  facts  that  I  urge  Sunday-school 
teachers  with  all  earnestness  to  know,  in  a  simple  way, 
history  at  the  time  of  Christ  and  during  the  early  cen- 
turies after  his  resurrection.  When  I  prepare  to  tell  the 
Christmas  story  to  Junior  or  Intermediate  grades  I 
review  and  have  clearly  in  my  mind  the  picture  of  the 
world  at  that  time,  Rome's  power,  commercial  conditions, 
life  and  customs  in  Palestine.  Not  that  I  wish  to  tell 
it  all  to  them,  but  that  it  may  be  clear  and  real  in  my 

L34] 


IMAGINATION 

own  mind.  One  year  I  drew  on  manila  paper  a  great 
Roman  soldier  in  armor,  put  up  the  picture  of  a  heathen 
temple  in  Greece,  let  the  scholars  name  the  gods  that 
were  worshiped  and  tried  to  make  them  see  the  vast 
power  of  mighty  Rome.  Then  I  pictured  the  little  inn 
of  Bethlehem,  and  the  baby,  who,  though  the  Roman 
world  did  not  even  know  of  his  coming,  was  one  day  to 
be  acknowledged  Lord  of  the  greatest  nations  of  the 
earth  when  Rome  and  Greece  were  dead.  I  did  not 
dwell  in  this  grade  upon  the  sweetness  of  the  mother 
or  the  weakness  of  the  little  one.  Why  ?  Because  I 
wanted  them  to  see  more  in  the  Christ-child  than  they 
did  in  the  kindergarten  or  primary  and  I  must  provide 
their  imagination  with  larger  things  on  which  to  build. 
If  I  have  a  class  of  adults  I  must  make  the  advent  of 
that  child  mean  still  more  if  I  am  to  help  the  imagination 
conceive  the  larger  and  larger  Christ.  Do  we  not  fail 
in  much  of  our  teaching  because  we  give  to  the  sixteen- 
year-old  the  same  Moses,  David  and  Christ  which  we 
gave  to  the  child  ?  Please  discuss  in  the  class.  Let  us 
remember  we  can  no  more  "  cultivate "  imagination 
until  seeds  are  sown  in  the  memory  than  we  can  culti- 
vate flowers  without  seed  in  the  soil,  but  having  the  seed 
sown,  by  the  practise  of  imaging  to  ourselves  what  we 
read  and  hear,  by  telling  stories  orally,  by  writing  brief 
descriptions  of  places,  cultivation  is  possible.  Nothing 
could  be  more  helpful  to  a  training-class  than  a  Bible 
story  told  by  one  member  at  each  meeting  to  the  rest  of 
the  class,  not  being  at  all  afraid  of  giving  and  receiving 
helpful  criticism.  The  only  way  to  gain  more  imagina- 
tion is  to  use  what  we  have. 

An  Aid  to  Sympathy 

The  unimaginative   person   may  be  emotional  but  he 
cannot    be   really   sympathetic.      None  of   us   enjoy   or 

[35] 


TALKS   WITH    THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

suffer  in  exactly  the  same  way,  yet  our  joys  and  sorrows 
have  something  in  common  and  the  imagination  can  help 
one  put  himself  in  another's  place.  It  is  through  the 
imagination  that  it  is  possible  to  put  ourselves  upon  the 
plane  of  the  child  and  sympathizing  with  him  see  things 
as  he  does  and  understand  in  his  way.  It  is  through 
the  imagination  of  the  child  that  he  can  be  made  to 
sympathize  with  the  poor  and  unfortunate.  One  should 
never  be  cruel  nor  in  any  way  shock  the  child  to  arouse 
sympathy  by  appealing  to  imagination,  but  if  done  wisely 
much  of  the  unkindness  of  children  toward  others  who 
are  unfortunate  can  be  checked.  I  have  found  such  an 
appeal  to  sympathy  a  great  blessing  again  and  again  when 
made  for  those  children  who  suffer  so  keenly  because 
others  "  make  fun  of  them." 

It  Furnishes  an  Ideal 

But  perhaps  the  greatest  service  which  the  imagination 
renders  in  the  training  of  children  lies  in  its  power  to  fur- 
nish an  ideal.  The  ideals  of  children,  those  they  "  want 
to  be  like,"  differ  widely.  Age,  environment  and  tempera- 
ment make  a  great  difference.  For  about  four  years  I 
collected  a  most  interesting  series  of  papers  from  public 
school  children  written  under  the  subject,  "When  I  grow 

up  I  want  most  to  be  like because  "  .     I  wish 

you  might  read  these  papers  for  yourselves.  There  were 
boys  who  wanted  to  be  a  certain  motorman,  the  driver  of 
the  watering-cart,  a  certain  grocer  (because  he  has  three 
horses  and  a  big  trade),  a  certain  physician  (he  drives  a 
fast  horse  and  once  he  made  forty  calls  in  one  day), 
John  Paul  Jones,  Lincoln,  my  uncle  who  was  killed  in 
the  War,  President  Roosevelt,  etc. ;  girls  who  wanted 
to  be  like  their  mothers,  teachers,  characters  in  books, 
a  certain  milliner,  a  nurse,  etc.  In  all  the  papers  I  col- 
lected, three  girls  in  their  teens  wanted  most  to  be  like 

[36] 


IMAGINATION 

Christ.  I  wonder  if  it  was  an  indication  of  anything  in 
our  teaching.  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  was  and  would 
like  to  urge  the  presentation  to  our  boys  and  girls,  from 
nine  to  sixteen  especially,  a  stronger  Christ,  that  he  may 
represent  the  things  out  of  which  they  may  build  up  an 
ideal  greater  even  than  all  the  other  great  and  helpful 
ideals  of  the  various  age  periods.  Please  discuss  in  the 
training-class.  It  is  of  tremendous  importance.  Ask 
your  pastor  to  talk  it  over  with  you  if  I  am  not  clear. 
If  we  can  so  present  Christ  that  he  shall  grow  larger, 
more  of  a  friend,  more  wonderful  and  inspiring,  the  ex- 
ponent of  the  loftiest  principles  in  the  world,  with  each 
succeeding  year  we  shall  have  done  much  to  insure 
obedience  to  his  commands  and  desire  to  follow  his 
example. 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

I  had  often  imagined  the  sea,  but  the  sea  was  more 
than  I  imagined,  and  it  satisfied.  I  had  often  dreamed 
of  the  mountains,  but  the  mountains  were  more  than  I 
dreamed;  they  satisfied.  Men  have  imagined  the  Christ, 
summing  up  in  him  the  best  conceptions  of  human  brain 
and  heart,  but  the  Christ  is  greater  than  the  imagination 
makes  him,  and  when  seen  he  will  satisfy. 

FOR   DISCUSSION 

1.  How  has  imagination  influenced  the  history  of  the 
world  ? 

2.  What  evils  lie  in  over-stimulated  imagination  ? 

3.  What  may  result  from  crushing  the  imagination  ? 

4.  Have  you  observed  any  connection  between  imagina- 
tion and  children* s  lies  ?  Illustrate.  What  have  you  done 
about  it  ? 

5.  Give  suggestions  as  to  how  in  Sunday-school  we  may 
appeal  to  the  imagination  of  young  children. 

[37] 


TALKS   WITH   THE   TRAINING    CLASS 

6.  Give  suggestions  for  teachers  of  children  from  ten  to 
twelve. 

7.  What  is  meant  by  **  constructive  imagination  "  ? 

8.  Why  is  it  of  great  service  to  the  teacher? 

9.  **A11  Sunday-school  teachers  should  be  familiar  with 
secular  history  at  the  time  of  Christ  and  during  early  centuries 
after  the  resurrection."      Do  you  believe  this  ?     Give  reasons. 

10.  How  does  imagination  aid  sympathy?     Illustrate. 

11.  How  does  imagination  furnish  ideals?     Illustrate. 

12.  How  may  a  teacher  use  these  facts  in  presenting  Christ 
to  children  ? 

13.  Can  imagination  be  culdvated  ?     How? 

1 4.  Is  it  worth  while  ?      Give  reason  for  answer. 

15.  Give  the  thought  for  the  week  in  your  own  words. 

PAGES    TO    BE    REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  pp.   140-147. 
History  of  Christianity,  pp.  57-86. 
Kemp's  History,  pp.  54-65. 


[38] 


REASON 

Have  you  ever  thought  what  it  means  to  think  ?  It 
means  the  action  and  reaction  of  the  most  delicate,  in- 
volved and  perfect  instrument  in  the  world  —  the  human 
brain.  It  means  the  difference  between  animal  and  man. 
It  means  civilization  and  progress.  Yes,  it  means  hope, 
faith,  love  and  God. 

What  a  pleasure  it  would  be  to  talk  together  for  our 
lesson  this  week  about  the  development  of  thought  from 
the  days  of  the  childhood  of  the  race  until  to-day  !  But 
we  must  not.  Our  subject  is,  however,  closely  related 
to  it,  for  we  are  to  talk  about  reason. 

Reason  is  the  highest  step  in  the  progress  of  thought 
and  is  the  last  topic  we  shall  discuss  under  what  we  have 
called  the  pathway  Knowledge. 

Conception 

The  first  step  in  reasoning  is  conception^  and  to  an- 
alyze and  understand  the  involved  process  of  conception 
is  a  difficult  task.  We  shall  consider  It  in  a  very  simple 
way.  First,  one  must  know  the  meaning  of  a  much 
used  word  which  sometimes  seems  mysterious  but  is 
not,  —  the  word  "  concept."  A  concept  Is  a  class  idea.  At 
first  I  may  have  the  single  idea  "  orange,"  which  is  a 
percept.  I  have  gained  the  idea  "  orange  "  through  sen- 
sation and  perception.  I  know  It  is  round,  yellow,  has 
skin,  etc.      I  get  the  idea  "apple"  in  the  same  way. 

[39] 


TALKS   WITH   THE  TRAINING   CLASS 

Banana,  plum  and  peach  follow.  Then  I  begin  to  put 
all  these  single  ideas  together  and  I  get  the  general  idea, 
"  fruit."  Fruit  is  a  general  or  class  thought,  and  I  say 
I  have  the  "  concept,  "  fruit. 

The  ability  to  think  the  single  idea,  or  individual, 
"  orange,"  '■'  pear,"  "  plum  "  and  "  apple  "  into  a  class 
which  I  call  "  fruit,"  is  the  power  of  conception.  In  the 
same  way  I  think  corn,  rye,  oats  and  barley  into  a  class 
and  have  the  concept,  "  grain."  In  order  to  reason  one 
must  first  have  clear  concepts,  and  good  power  of  con- 
ception. 

Judgment 

When  we  have  two  concepts  we  compare  them  and 
decide  for  ourselves  whether  they  agree  or  disagree.  We 
have  the  percept  "  cat,"  and  the  concept  "  animal." 
We  compare  and  give  our  judgment,  "  The  cat  is  an 
animal."  We  have  the  percept  "  eel  "  and  the  concept 
"  fish,"  and  we  say  the  eel  is  a  fish.  In  order  to  reach 
right  judgments  we  must  have  clear  ideas  of  the  things 
to  be  compared.  Thus  we  must  have  a  clear  percept 
"eel"  and  a  clear  concept  "fish,"  else  the  judgment  we 
reach  may  be  wrong.  A  child  says  an  "  eel  is  a  water 
snake,  a  whale  is  a  fish,  a  spider  is  a  bug."  The  child 
is  continually  giving  incorrect  judgments,  because  of  the 
lack  of  clear  concepts  and  the  haste  with  which  he  makes 
conclusions.  In  this  we  all  err  with  him.  The  lack  of 
clear  concepts,  undue  haste  and  the  bias  of  feeling  weaken 
all  judgments.  Perhaps  the  greatest  enemy  to  ability  to 
give  sane,  wise  judgment  comes  from  the  ease  with  which 
we  appropriate  the  judgment  of  others  to  save  the  trouble 
of  thinking.  We  must  strive  constantly  not  to  allow 
children  to  do  this. 

In  school  last  week  a  bright  boy  of  twelve  said  in  class 
recitation,  "  It   says  on    page   sixty  in  the  history  that 

[40] 


REASON 

Charles  I  made  promises  which  he  never  kept,  cheated, 
and  lied  to  both  his  friends  and  enemies ;  and  then  in 
the  next  paragraph  it  says  that  Charles  was  always  a 
gentleman  no  matter  what  happened.  Please  tell  me 
how  he  could  be?  "  To  test  him  I  said,  "  His  manners 
were  perfect,  he  never  forgot  to  be  polite,  he  was  very 
courteous  to  women  and  children."  "  Well,"  protested 
the  boy,  "  he  lied  and  cheated  and  I  don't  see  how  any- 
body could  be  a  gentleman  and  do  that."  I  wish  you 
might  have  heard  the  twenty-four  in  the  class  discuss  it. 
What  was  responsible  for  this  boy's  judgment,  "  Charles 
was  not  a  gentleman  even  if  the  book  says  so  "  ? 

Reason 

k.%  judgment  is  the  result  of  the  conclusions  reached 
by  the  comparison  of  concepts,  reason  is  the  result  of 
conclusions  reached  by  the  comparison  and  analysis  of 
judgments.  The  purpose  of  the  book  forbids  entrance 
into  discussions  of  the  process  of  reasoning  which  might 
easily  plunge  us  into  the  depths  of  logic  where  those  who 
know  most  of  these  matters  are  still  seeking  conclusions 
upon  which  they  can  agree.  In  our  simple  treatment  or 
the  subject  this  is  what  we  wish  to  avoid. 

Most  of  our  reasons  are  reached  and  lessons  taught 
through  one  of  two  processes  or  by  both  combined. 
These  processes  are  known  as  induction  and  deduction. 
Using  the  inductive  method  I  teach  :  — Jacob  sinned  ;  he 
repented ;  God  forgave  him.  David  sinned,  repented 
and  God  forgave  him.  Elijah  sinned,  repented  and  God 
forgave  him,  therefore  the  conclusion,  "  If  a  man  sin 
and  repent,  God  will  forgive  him."  By  the  deductive 
method  I  teach,  "  If  a  man  sin  and  repent,  God  will  for- 
give him."  Jacob  sinned  and  repented ;  God  forgave 
him.  David  sinned  and  repented;  God  forgave  him, 
etc. 

[41] 


TALKS    WITH   THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

In  the  first  case  I  start  with  the  particular  truth, 
"  Jacob  sinned,  repented,  and  God  forgave  him,"  and 
reach  up  to  the  general  truth,  "  If  a  man  sin  and  re- 
pent, God  will  forgive  him."  In  the  second  case  I 
start  with  the  general  truth  and  then  proceed  to  par- 
ticular instances. 

Watch  yourself  this  month  in  the  preparation  of  your 
essons  and  see  which  method  you  use. 

The  fact  is  that  neither  method  alone  is  sufficient 
for  good  teaching.  There  must  be  a  combination  of 
both.  First,  leading  step  by  step  from  the  particular  in- 
stance to  the  general  truth  ;  then  enforcing,  impressing 
and  testing  that  general  truth  through  particular  instances. 

We  also  reason  by  analogy.  We  find  two  things 
which  resemble  each  other.  A  certain  thing  is  true  of 
one,  therefore  we  conclude  it  is  true  of  the  other. 
"  What  man  is  there  of  you,"  said  Christ,  "  who,  if  his 
son  shall  ask  him  for  a  loaf,  will  give  him  a  stone ;  or 
if  he  shall  ask  for  a  fish,  will  give  him  a  serpent  ?  If 
ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto 
your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  who  is 
in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  him  ?  " 

In  the  next  chapter  we  shall  attempt  to  see  how 
effective  teaching  by  analogy  can  be  made,  and  what 
a  great  aid  it  must  prove  in  reaching  sane  conclusions 
in  the  reasoning  process. 

A  Warning 

We  must  remember  that  reason  is  the  product  of 
years  of  growth  and  training.  The  mistake  is  often 
made  of  attempting  to  force  children  to  see  reasons  at 
an  age  far  too  early.  The  early  years  are  for  gathering 
material  and  storing  the  memory  that  when  the  right 
time  comes  there  shall  be  something  in  the  mind  upon 
which  to  base  reason. 

[42] 


REASON 

The  Reasoning  Period 

When  a  child  reaches  the  age  of  fifteen  the  reason  Is 
active.  It  will  grow  more  and  more  active  during  the 
next  five  years.  The  "  why  '*  of  mere  curiosity  has 
been  exchanged  for  the  "  why  "  of  reason,  and  if  pos- 
sible we  must  satisfy  it.  Such  a  new  and  marvelous 
world  is  now  opening  before  them  !  Every  day  new 
phases  of  life  reveal  themselves,  and  to  thinking  young 
people  there  are  multitudes  of  new  and  vital  questions 
to  be  solved.  Some  children  seem  to  accept  It  all  with- 
out a  question,  saying  nothing,  apparently  thinking  little, 
but  with  the  majority  it  is  not  so.  During  the  later 
years  of  this  period  there  seems  to  be,  with  a  great 
number  of  young  people,  a  tendency  to  turn  away  from 
the  first  glad  acceptance  of  religious  truth  toward  a  so- 
called  "  doubt."  It  Is  of  these  young  people  I  wish 
especially  to  speak.  I  do  not  believe  one  should  lead 
them  to  express  their  doubts,  but  when  they  do,  may 
God  give  us  the  wisdom  we  need  more  than  at  any 
other  time  in  our  work.  The  phrase  "  I  don't  believe  " 
more  often  means,  "  I  cannot  understand,"  and  I  know 
from  experience  that  It  is  possible  to  make  them  feel 
that  it  is  the  inability  to  understand  which  leaves  them 
so  perplexed. 

They  are  not  wicked  doubters,  these  questioning  young 
people  of  ours.  They  are  striving  to  reason  out  answers. 
The  only  person  who  never  questions  is  the  one  who 
never  thinks.  I  have  had  girls  and  boys  in  their  later 
teens  tell  me  that  they  "  don't  believe  in  anything,  not 
even  that  there  is  a  God."  "  If  there  Is,"  they  say, 
"  why  does  he  let  such  things  happen  ?  "  Well,  I  have 
met  that  question  and  answered  It  for  myself;  all  I  can 
do  is  to  give  them  my  answer.  I  have  found  that.  If 
wisely  treated,  they  almost  always  return  to  a  larger  and 
better  faith  when  the  period  of  doubt  Is  over.     It  can  be 

[43] 


TALKS   WITH    THE   TRAINING    CLASS 

made  a  short  period  for  many  of  them,  if  we  can  lead 
them  to  see  the  marvelous  power  of  Almighty  God  whom 
they  question.  How  impossible  it  is  for  the  human  mind 
to  understand  the  great  problems  they  are  attempting  to 
solve,  and  yet  the  mind  must  ever  seek  to  solve  them. 

The  main  thing  it  seems  to  me  is  to  rob  doubt  of  its 
heroic  element  by  not  treating  it  as  wicked.  Then  we 
can  help  them  as  best  we  may  to  reach  conclusions 
which  shall  in  a  measure  satisfy.  Let  us  remember 
that  the  best  and  highest  reasoning  never  leads  to  final 
disbelief.  The  reason  seeks  the  positive  always  rather 
than  the  negative.  Personally,  I  am  not  as  anxious  about 
these  young  people  as  I  am  about  those  who  say,  "  There 
is  a  God ;  all  you  teach  is  true,"  and  then  live  as  if  there 
were  no  God  and  none  of  it  were  true. 

I  have  talked  with  you  about  this  particular  "  why  "  of 
the  later  adolescent  period  because  I  believe  that  one 
explanation  of  our  loss  of  pupils  of  this  age  is  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  mind  craves  reasons  and  many  teachers 
are  afraid  to  face  the  questions  either  in  attempt  to  answer 
or  in  acknowledgment  that  the  human  mind  cannot  as 
yet  solve  the  problem.  Subjects  brought  up  in  class,  in 
which  all  the  members  are  vitally  interested,  are  often 
set  aside  for  those  about  which  they  care  nothing. 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

Faith  is  greater  than  Reason,  and  Love  is  greater 
than  either.  Where  Reason  fails,  Faith  and  Love  may 
succeed.  So  let  us  be  sure  that  our  teaching  springs 
from  a  great  love  and  a  genuine  faith. 

FOR   DISCUSSION 

1 .  What  is  the  first  step  in  reasoning  ? 

2.  What  is  a  concept  ?     Illustrate. 

3.  What  was  the  Hebrew  concept  *'  God"  in  earliest  times? 

[44] 


REASON 

4.  How  did  it  change  during  various  periods  ?  How  does 
our  concept  differ  from  theirs  ? 

5.  I  heard  a  teacher  say,  **That  boy  has  no  conception 
of  honesty  or  honor."  What  did  she  mean?  What  can  she 
do  for  him  ? 

6.  What  is  conception  ? 

7.  How  is  judgment  reached? 

8.  Give  causes  of  incorrect  judgments.      Illustrate. 

9.  Are  parents  in  any  way  responsible  for  conclusions 
reached  by  children  about  lying,  swearing,  cheating,  etc.  ?  Give 
reason  for  answer.      Are  teachers  in  any  way  responsible  ? 

10.  By  what  methods  do  we  reason  ?  Give  illustrations  of 
each. 

11.  What  difference  does  the  age  of  the  pupil  make  in  the 
power  of  conception  ?     Judgment  ?      Reasoning  ? 

12.  How  should  these  facts  influence  teaching? 

13.  How  should  we  treat  the  honest  questioning  of  the 
adolescent  period  ? 

14.  Read  the  last  paragraph  under  '*  The  Reasoning  Period." 
Do  you  believe  it  ?      Give  reasons  for  answer. 

15.  Give  thought  for  the  week  in  your  own  words. 

PAGES    TO    BE    REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  pp.  153-180.  Special  attention 
to  pp.  155-159,  166,  167,  169,  170.  Induction  and  Deduction, 
PP-   174,  i75»  178.^ 

History  of  Christianity,  pp.   11 7-1 40. 

Kemp's  History,  pp.  258-274. 

James'  Talks  to  Teachers,  chapter  XIII. 


[45] 


VI 
ANALOGY 

One  winter  night  I  hurried  around  the  corner  through 
the  drifting  snow  into  the  chapel  where  the  warmth  and 
light,  the  flowers  and  pretty  dresses  made  a  most  inter- 
esting contrast  to  the  cold  and  darkness  outside.  It  was 
a  monthly  social  and  after  an  hour  of  conversation  and 
refreshment  there  was  an  entertainment  to  which  I  failed 
to  listen  except  now  and  then,  though  it  was  a  good  one. 
I  did  not  listen  because  I  had  learned  a  lesson  in  psy- 
chology that  evening  in  a  new  and  forceful  way  and  I 
could  not  resist  thinking  about  it. 

I  had  noticed  as  the  different  people  entered  the  room 
how  each  hesitated  a  moment  on  the  threshold  and 
looked  about  him.  Perhaps  he  nodded  to  one  or  an- 
other, then  entering  sought  some  interesting  group, 
joined  it  and  in  a  few  moments  became  a  part  of  it, 
sharing  its  laughter  and  fun.  Some  of  the  groups  were 
large,  others  of  two  or  three.  Some  stood  about  in  the 
center  of  the  room  and  others  took  chairs  and  withdrew 
to  a  corner.  Here  and  there  were  the  "  wanderers " 
drifting  about  from  group  to  group,  spending  a  few 
moments  with  each.  But  I  was  especially  interested 
in  a  man  who  came  in  alone,  hesitated  quite  a  long 
time  at  the  open  door,  walked  about,  put  his  hands  in 
his  pockets  and  stood  quietly  observing  it  all.  When 
I  thought  of  him  again  half  an  hour  later  he  was  pass- 
ing through  the  hall  and  went  out  the  side  door.  My 
lesson  began. 

[46] 


ANALOGY 

The  room  was  no  longer  a  room  but  the  human  brain 
with  its  mystical  "  grayish  matter  and  cells  "  of  which 
we  speak  so  easily  that  we  forget  the  marvel  of  it  all. 
And  the  people  were  no  longer  people,  but  Ideas  hesi- 
tating at  the  threshold.  I  saw  each  new  arrival  from 
the  world  without  entering  the  brain.  Here  was  an  Idea 
coming  alone,  waiting  a  moment,  then  joining  quickly 
and  easily  the  group  in  the  center,  soon  to  become  a 
part  of  it.  I  saw  another  Idea  join  itself  to  a  small 
group  in  the  farthest  corner  and  a  third  wandering  about 
associating  with  first  one  and  then  another  of  the  central 
groups.  Yes,  and  I  saw  a  fourth  enter,  stop  a  moment 
beside  the  various  groups,  hurrying  on  each  time,  until 
when  I  looked  for  it,  lo,  it  had  gone  through  some  side 
door.  It  was  this  last  Idea  in  which  I  was  most  inter- 
ested. Why  had  it  gone  ?  For  the  very  same  reason 
that  the  man  left  the  chapel.  It  found  no  group  in 
which  it  belonged,  no  associates,  nothing  to  which  it 
might  attach  itself.  There  seemed  to  be  no  place  for 
it  and   it  went  out. 

As  I  thought  about  it  I  seemed  to  see  as  a  new  reve- 
lation the  old  law  of  "  Association  of  Ideas  "  with  which 
I  had  been  so  long  familiar,  —  an  explanation  of  the 
reason  why  children  seeming  to  know,  and  even  able 
to  repeat  certain  facts  in  history,  geography  or  Bible 
study,  knew  nothing  about  them  two  days  later.  The 
fact  had  gone,  the  knowledge  poured  in  had  vanished, 
largely  because  it  was  unconnected,  isolated  material 
unable  to  find  any  group  with  which  to  associate  itself. 
If  this  be  true  what  must  I  do  ?  The  answer  is  plain, 
—  attempt  to  teach  in  such  a  way  that  the  new  Idea 
which  I  present  shall  be  associated  with  some  Idea 
already  in  the  mind,  that  when  it  enters  it  may  find  a 
group  of  kindred  Ideas  ready  to  welcome  it.  This  was 
clear.      Now   that  little   word  so  mighty  that  it  often 

[47] 


TALKS   WITH   THE   TRAINING    CLASS 

thwarts  our  best  theories  challenged  me  —  "  how  "  can 
it  be  done  ?  I  then  began  to  study  with  new  eagerness 
a  path  over  which  Ideas  seem  to  travel  easily  and  when 
they  enter  the  mind  to  be  welcomed  and  kept.  The 
name  of  the  path  is 

Analogy 

Truth  is  abstract  but  comes  to  us  through  the  concrete 
largely.  In  order  to  make  the  abstract  plain,  to  make  it 
come  within  our  pupils'  comprehension  and  become  a 
part  of  their  store  of  knowledge  we  must  be  able  to 
make  them  note  comparisons  and  see  relations.  Speak- 
ing broadly,  this  "  seeing  relations "  is  analogy.  The 
word  analogous  comes  to  us  from  the  Greek  and  means 
"  having  certain  attributes  In  common,"  "  bearing  re- 
semblances," "  like,"  so  that  in  using  the  pathway 
Analogy,  I  am  really  saying,  "This  new  Idea,  un- 
familiar, strange,  is  like  this  common  every-day  expe- 
rience with  which   you   are  familiar." 

How  perfectly  Christ  did  this  !  He  was  talking  with 
shepherds.  The  rocky  slopes,  the  thorns,  the  sheepfold 
with  its  ninety  and  nine,  the  missing  one,  the  joy  of 
friends  when  the  shepherd  after  weary  hours  of  searching 
returned  bearing  the  lost  one  on  his  shoulders,  were  all 
familiar.  They  made  a  well-defined  group  of  associated 
Ideas.  Into  this  group  Christ  introduces  the  new  Idea, 
"  As  the  friends  of  the  shepherd  rejoice  with  great  joy 
over  the  finding  of  the  sheep,  so  the  angels  of  heaven 
rejoice  over  one  sinner  that  repents." 

And  again  using  the  same  group  of  Ideas  in  the  mind, 
adding  to  knowledge  already  gained  new  knowledge  closely 
associated  with  it,  he  teaches,  "  I  am  a  Shepherd,  a  good 
Shepherd,  I  know  my  sheep,  they  hear  my  voice  and  follow 
me."  I  doubt  if  a  single  shepherd  in  his  audience  failed 
to  understand  the  lessons  or  ever  quite  forgot  them. 

[48] 


ANALOGY 

One  day  he  walked  through  a  vineyard.  It  was  in 
good  condition,  the  vines  trimmed  and  pruned  ;  here  and 
there  were  large  clusters  of  grapes,  and  he  taught  his 
disciples,  —  I  am  like  the  vine,  you  are  like  the  branches. 
The  branch  separated  from  the  vine  is  useless;  it  can 
never  bear  fruit ;  it  is  thrown  into  the  fire  and  burned. 
Neither  can  you  do  anything  apart  from  me ;  you  must 
abide  in  me  if  you  would  live  and  bring  forth  fruit.  A 
simple,  natural,  powerful  lesson.  I  am  sure  that  scores 
of  times  in  after  years  as  the  disciples  passed  the  ripened 
clusters  in  the  vineyard  his  words  came  back  to  them. 

There  is  nothing  in  all  that  has  been  written  on 
pedagogy  which  so  moves  one  and  spurs  him  on  to  better 
effort  as  the  reading  and  rereading  of  these  lessons 
taught  by  the  Great  Teacher. 

Jesus  appreciated  the  knowledge  his  pupils  possessed ; 
he  made  use  of  what  they  already  had,  as  a  basis  for  the 
analogy  by  which  he  taught  the  new  thing.  Let  us  recall 
what  we  learned  in  our  first  lesson,  that  we  must  know 
the  child,  his  mental  and  moral  standards  and  his  envi- 
ronment in  order  to  be  able  to  appreciate  the  amount  of 
knowledge  he  possesses.  Then  we  can  begin  our  search 
for  analogies  which  can  make  clear  to  him  new  truth. 
They  lie  all  about  us  ;  we  need  only  to  thoughtfully 
look  for  them. 

A  while  ago  I  heard  a  young  man  teach  a  class  of 
eleven-year-old  boys  what  I  call  a  fine  lesson.  The 
faces  of  the  boys  were  eager  and  interested.  The  golden 
text  was,  "  No  man  can  serve  two  masters."  The 
young  man  said:  "When  I  was  going  down  Main 
Street  I  saw  a  dog  trotting  along  with  a  paper  in  his 
mouth.  Behind  walked  his  owner,  a  boy  about  twelve 
years  old  whose  name  was  Frank.  Across  the  street 
was  another  fellow,  about  fifteen,  shuffling  along  the 
sidewalk.      He  espied  the   dog  and  gave  a  quick,  sharp 

[49] 


TALKS   WITH    THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

whistle.  The  dog  pricked  up  his  ears.  In  a  moment 
he  started  across  and  reached  the  middle  of  the  street, 
when  Frank  saw  what  he  was  doing  and  whistled.  The 
dog  started  back.  The  boy  across  the  street  gave  an- 
other whistle,  held  up  something  in  his  hand,  and  called, 
'  Come  here,  sir.'  The  dog  started  toward  him,  he 
heard  Frank  whistle  again  and  started  back.  For  a  few 
seconds  everybody  on  the  street  looked  and  laughed.  I 
wish  you  might  have  seen  that  dog  race  toward  one  and 
then  toward  the  other.  He  did  not  know  what  to  do 
nor  which  way  to  go.  He  couldn't  follow  both ;  he  had 
to  choose  between  them.  At  last  a  decided  whistle  and 
a  loud  command  from  Frank  brought  him  back,  and  he 
trotted  along  slowly  behind  his  master  down  the  street. 
I  tell  you  there  are  times  when  we  fellows  get  into  about 
the  place  of  that  small  dog.  I  have  been  there  a  good 
many  times.  I  know  a  boy  who  was  in  that  place  less 
than  a  week  ago." 

Then  followed  two  clear,  brief  illustrations  right  out 
of  a  boy's  experience,  with  the  right  and  wrong  pulling 
hard,  striving  for  mastery.  A  few  clear  questions  and 
the  lesson  went  on  to  a  fine  climax.  The  interest 
never  flagged.  When  the  teacher  finished  that  lesson 
and  they  repeated  the  golden  text,  it  meant  something. 
The  analogy  used  in  the  lesson  was  homely,  but  it 
made  them  see  the  truth. 

Dangers 

In  teaching  by  analogy  one  must  use  care  as  with  any 
good  thing.  The  analogy  must  be  clear.  It  must  be 
simple  and  brief.  If  one  has  to  explain  and  to  stretch 
a  point  to  make  an  analogy  he  would  far  better  drop 
it.  If  obliged  to  use  a  new  word,  it  must  be  taught 
first.  The  limited  vocabulary  of  a  child  often  ruins  the 
effect  of  what  would  otherwise  be  good  analogy.     When 

[50] 


ANALOGY 

wisely  used,  analogy  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  surest  and 
most  effective  path  over  which  the  teacher  can  send  new 
thoughts  to  the  mind  of  his  pupil. 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

Jesus  did  not  always  find  his  analogies  in  the  writings 
of  the  scribes  or  in  the  scrolls  in  the  temple.  He  found 
them  in  life.  That  is  why  they  counted.  From  the 
nature  world  and  the  world  of  men  and  women  he  drew 
his  lessons.  We  must  learn  to  do  it  too,  if  we  want 
to  teach  effectively.     There  are 

*'  tongues  in  trees,  books  in  the  running  brooks. 
Sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in  everything/' 

God  help  us  find  it  that  we  may  give  it. 


FOR    DISCUSSION 

1.  What  is  the  relation  between  analogy  and  the  law  **  pro- 
ceed from  the  known  to  the  unknown  "  f 

2.  What  is  the  relation  between  analogy  and  the  phrase  *'  a 
point  of  contact  "  ? 

3.  What  is  meant  by  **  association  of  ideas  "  ? 

4.  Give  reasons  why  much  that  is  told  children  is  forgotten 
so  easily. 

5.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  '*  analogy  "  ? 

6.  Look  through  the  Gospels  and  find  analogies  used  by 
Christ. 

7.  What  must  one  avoid  in  teaching  by  analogy? 

8.  Study  the  given  words,  searching  for  analogies  which 
they  suggest.  Outline  briefly  lessons  to  be  taught  by  means  of 
the  analogy.  A  watch,  how  is  it  like  a  boy  ?  A  camera, 
how  about  focus,  film  and  shutter  ?  A  candle  ;  a  lantern  ;  a 
lighthouse ;  a  ruler  ;  a  mirror  ;  a  telephone ;  a  mountain ; 
a  spring ;  a  railroad  ;  a  wreck  ;  a  sword  ;  a  soldier  ;  snow  ;  rain  ; 

[51] 


TALKS   WITH    THE    TRAINING    CLASS 

a  flood  ;  a  fire  ;  a  diamond  ;  gold  ;   coal.      Make  a  list  of  your 
own. 

9.    Give  the  thought  for  the  week  in  your  own  words. 

PAGES    TO    BE   REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  pp.   179,  119-133. 

History  of  Christianity,  pp.  86-117. 

Kemp's  History,  pp.  33,  53. 

See  James'  Talks  to  Teachers,  chapter  IX. 


[52] 


VII 
ATTENTION 

One  summer  afternoon  a  young  man  sat  under  the 
pines  on  a  sloping  hillside  thinking  deeply.  Two  hours 
passed  and  suddenly  he  raised  his  eyes  to  the  distant 
mountains,  and  said,  "  I  will."  That  "  I  will "  sent 
him  to  an  island  in  the  southern  Pacific  to  spend  his  life 
with  a  degraded,  barbarous  race,  whose  eyes  he  slowly 
opened  until  they  saw  their  Creator  and  worshiped  him. 

Across  the  river  sat  another  young  man  on  a  bench 
in  a  green  and  beautiful  park.  He  seemed  to  be  think- 
ing earnestly.  Suddenly  he  said  aloud,  "  After  all,  I 
will,"  and  sauntered  off  to  join  companions  who  had  in- 
vited him  to  a  game  in  the  corner  club-room.  That 
"I  will"  cost  him  in  the  end  home  and  friends,  and 
sent  him  to  a  prison  cell,  —  a  thief. 

What  a  tremendous  power  it  is  which  makes  possible 
decision  and  resolution  !  One  trembles  in  the  presence 
of  such  a  power  as  he  realizes  the  consequences  which 
may  follow  the  "  I  will  "  which,  of  all  creation,  only 
man  can  say. 

As  we  consider  and  try  to  analyze  in  our  next  few 
talks  the  pathway  Will,  we  must  remember  that  the 
deliberate  "  I  will "  is  the  basis  of  man's  character,  and 
the  "  I  will  "  of  the  crises  in  life  is  being  made  by  the 
"  I  will "  of  each  day.  You  will  remember  that  the 
pathway  Willing  includes  all  the  operations  of  the  mind 
leading    to    action,  —  Attention,    the    Will,    and    Habit 

[53] 


TALKS   WITH   THE   TRAINING    CLASS 

being  the  special  things  we  shall  consider.  The  power 
to  gain  and  hold  attention  is  the  one  great  desire  of 
every  teacher,  for  without  it  he  cannot  really  teach. 

The  other  day  when  the  sun  was  pouring  light  and 
heat  upon  the  sandy  playground,  one  of  the  boys  took  a 
burning-glass  and  held  it  over  his  straw  hat.  When  he 
removed  it  the  place  was  badly  scorched.  He  asked, 
"  Why,"  and  was  much  interested  in  the  explanation. 
Attention  is  very  much  like  that  burning-glass ;  it 
gathers  up  and  centralizes  and  brings  to  focus  upon  one 
thing  all  the  mind  power.  Attention  is  not  a  distinct 
faculty,  but  rather  a  state  of  the  mind. 

Two  Kinds  of  Attention 

We  shall  talk  over  attention  of  two  kinds.  Involun- 
tary —  without  the  will,  and  Voluntary  —  with  the  will. 
Involuntary  attention  belongs  to  the  feelings,  as  we  saw 
in  our  study  of  curiosity  and  interest.  Voluntary  atten- 
tion belongs  to  the  will  and  is  gained  through  continued 
effort.  A  street  piano  playing  outside  as  I  write  may 
claim  my  involuntary  attention  but  through  voluntary 
effort  I  bring  my  mind  back  to  my  work  and  the  piano 
is  soon  forgotten.  In  involuntary  attention  the  stimulus 
comes  from  the  outside.  Some  people  never  get  away 
from  this  sort  of  attention.  The  mind  yields  itself  to 
one  thing  after  another  all  day,  flitting  from  this  to  that 
as  a  bee  does  from  flower  to  flower.  Genuine  attention 
for  long  periods  is  impossible  for  such  people.  In  vol- 
untary attention  the  stimulus  comes  from  within  ;  it  is 
conscious  effort. 

The  teacher  in  the  primary  grade  seeks  and  gains 
involuntary  attention.  He  must  depend  upon  curiosity 
and  interest  to  stimulate  it.  In  all  grades  we  must  depend 
more  or  less  upon  interest,  for  while  the  will  may  bring 
the  mind  and  the  subject  together,  attention  cannot  be 

[54] 


ATTENTION 

given  for  a  long  period  unless  there  is  some  element  of 
interest  and  a  basis  for  association. 

To  please  me  a  child  may  make  a  great  effort  to  pay 
attention,  but  if  interest  be  lacking  it  can  be  given  only 
for  a  short  time.  Every  teacher  of  experience  knows 
how  futile  is  the  hope  of  gaining  anything  but  the  most 
fleeting  attention  by  rapping  on  the  desk,  ringing  a  bell 
or  shouting,  "  Attention."  He  also  learns  through  ex- 
perience that  a  class  may  sit  perfectly  still,  with  eyes 
riveted  upon  his  face,  and  minds  busily  engaged  upon 
some  interesting  subject  far  removed  from  the  one  he  is 
presenting.  A  keen  teacher  learns  to  recognize  this 
look  of  seeming  attention. 

Involuntary  attention  depends  almost  wholly  upon  the 
teacher.  If  he  has  imagination,  can  tell  stories  well,  has 
a  good  voice  and  winning  manner,  can  adapt  his  material 
to  the  age  and  mental  equipment  of  his  class,  he  will  be 
able  to  successfully  hold  attention  for  longer  or  shorter 
periods. 

The  Center  of  Attraction 

A  thousand  things  are  continually  knocking  at  the 
door  asking  our  attention.  A  ride  on  a  railroad-train 
well  illustrates  this.  Gorgeous  maples,  yellow  birches 
against  dark  pines,  goldenrod,  a  blue  lake  here  and  there, 
towns  large  and  small,  bill-boards  which  will  be  looked 
at,  the  calling  of  the  stations,  boys  selling  papers,  and 
surrounding  passengers,  how  they  swarm  about  us  de- 
manding our  attention  !  Yet  it  is  possible  to  read  or 
write  in  the  train  and  be  wholly  oblivious  to  all  of  it,  if 
the  book  or  the  letter  is  a  greater  attraction.  The  teacher 
who  wins  the  involuntary  attention  of  his  class  must  be 
a  greater  attraction  than  anything  else.which  is  clamoring 
for  attention.  He  must  be  the  center,  and  by  changes 
of  attitude,  of  voice,  by  illustration,  by  story,  he  must 
[55] 


TALKS   WITH   THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

keep  the  center.  Noticing  inattention  when  using  the 
voice  I  naturally  use  in  teaching,  I  have  often  lowered  it 
suddenly,  almost  to  a  whisper,  and  regained  attention 
instantly.  If  sitting,  I  have  stood,  or  stepped  to  the 
board  to  draw  some  illustration,  and  so  brought  back 
wandering  eyes  and  thoughts.  Some  teachers  do  this 
naturally  and  unconsciously,  and  others  have  to  learn 
through  experience  to  do  it. 

To  Gain  Voluntary  Attention 

Although  we  could  never  teach  without  involuntary 
attention,  no  teacher  is  satisfied  with  that  alone.  He 
must  work  constantly  toward  the  attention  which  is 
given  voluntarily  despite  other  attractions.  This  atten- 
tion some  teachers  seem  unable  to  gain.  Their  Sunday- 
school  hour  is  filled  by  a  series  of  stories,  pictures,  maps^ 
symbols,  etc.,  which  attract  artention  to  themselves,  but 
do  not  give  opportunity  for  real  teaching.  One  has  a 
right  to  expect  voluntary  attention  from  the  average 
nine  or  ten-year-old  for  short  periods.  At  twelve,  chil- 
dren ought  to  be  able  to  give  strict  attention  for  twenty 
minutes  if  the  teacher  has  thoughtfully  prepared  the  les- 
son with  his  special  class  in  view.  If  he  is  sure  there  is 
plenty  of  fresh  air,  and  disturbances  such  as  loud  talking, 
continual  moving  about,  passing  of  books  and  papers  are 
removed,  the  attention  will  be  much  more  intense  and  a 
greater  impression  can  be  made. 

This  done,  we  may  strive  to  inspire  our  children  to 
pay  attention  because  they  should.  The  desire  to  win 
the  teacher's  approval  is  a  great  incentive  to  many  chil- 
dren. If  the  teacher  expresses  pleasure  at  efforts  made, 
it  is  a  help  in  gaining  further  effort.  A  wide-awake, 
ambitious  child  may  be  encouraged  to  give  attention  that 
he  may  make  a  higher  class,  or  use  a  more  difficult  book, 
if  health  and  age  permit.      I  once  had  an  entire  class  in 

[56] 


ATTENTION 

Sunday-school  work  for  three  months  giving  splendid 
attention  and  studying  at  home  that  they  might  use  the 
same  quarterly  as  the  oldest  class.  The  last  Sunday  in 
June  I  named  two  classes  in  the  Sunday-school  not  one 
of  whose  members  has  been  spoken  to  for  inattention 
since  January  ist.  The  fact  was  written  in  the  secre- 
tary's book,  and  they  have  determined  to  make  the 
record  for  a  year.  If  a  child  at  the  age  when  voluntary 
attention  is  to  be  expected,  can  be  led  to  see  that  it  is  a 
great  thing  to  make  himself  give  attention,  it  helps,  espe- 
cially with  boys.  I  explained  one  day  to  a  class  of  school 
children  that  it  was  more  difficult  and  worth  far  more 
to  be  able  to  make  yourself  study  when  you  wanted  to 
listen  to  another  class  than  to  be  able  to  perform  on 
the  trapeze.  "  It  is  hard  to  make  the  muscles  of  your 
body  obey,  and  harder  to  make  your  mind  muscles  obey. 
Some  children  have  to  look  up  when  a  person  enters," 
I  said,  "  and  have  to  keep  on  looking  until  he  leaves  the 
room ;  they  can't  help  it.  Other  children  are  strong ; 
they  just  glance  up  and  go  right  to  work  again.  Once 
in  a  great  while  some  one  is  strong  enough  to  hear  a 
door  open  and  not  even  look  up,  but  that  is  hard,  and 
only  a  few  can  do  it."  A  few  mornings  later  the  super- 
intendent entered  and  talked  with  me  at  my  desk ;  I  was 
amused  at  the  conscious  effort  put  forth  to  glance  up 
and  go  right  back  to  work  again.  When  the  superin- 
tendent left,  an  eleven-year-old  boy,  with  a  look  of  pride 
on  his  face  raised  his  hand  and  said,  "  Please  tell  me  if 
you  saw  me  not  look  up  ?  I  read  every  minute  you 
were  talking."  I  praised  him  gladly.  Children  make 
it  a  matter  of  pride  not  to  listen  when  recitation  is  going 
on  in  another  class,  and  little  by  little  they  gain  power  to 
pay  attention. 

Fear   of  punishment  also  makes  some  children  give 
attention.     This  is  the  very  lowest  motive  to  which  one 

[57] 


TALKS   WITH   THE    TRAINING    CLASS 

can  appeal,  and  I  am  always  ashamed  if  I  have  to  do  it. 
Young  children  should  never  be  punished  for  not  paying 
attention,  but  the  older  ones,  especially  the  lazy,  are 
spurred  on  to  effort  oftentimes  by  such  punishment  as  a 
wise  teacher  can  give.  The  punishment  must  always  fit 
the  offense,  and  depend  upon  the  disposition  of  the  child 
who  is  to  receive  it.  If  it  will  help  the  child  in  his  de- 
velopment the  teacher  must  not  hesitate.  The  matter 
of  disposition  often  explains  inattention.  At  one  time 
I  had  in  my  room  a  boy  of  twelve  who  was  the  most 
inattentive  child  I  have  ever  met.  It  was  not  the  inatten- 
tion of  a  weak,  nervous  child  but  seemed  to  be  wilful.  I 
tried  to  interest  him  without  avail.  He  said  he  hated 
geography,  didn't  like  arithmetic,  and  finally  I  said, 
"Well,  my  boy,  what  do  you  like;  what  would  you  do 
all  day,  if  allowed  to  do  just  as  you  please  ?  "  I  have 
never  forgotten  his  reply.  "  I  don't  like  jogaphy  and  all 
the  other  studies  except  painting,  and  I  don't  like  ter 
come  to  school."  Then  in  a  defiant  tone  he  added, 
♦■'  I  don't  care  for  nuthin'."  He  was  mistaken.  When 
we  reached  the  period  of  knights  and  lords  and  castles, 
and  the  Crusades  he  couldn't  resist  and  was  interested  in 
spite  of  himself.  He  could  draw  pretty  well  and  was 
chosen  to  illustrate  a  book  written  by  the  children  on 
"  Knights  of  Olden  Times."  He  was  exceedingly  proud 
of  this.  Later  he  was  appointed  "  Inspector  of  Desks," 
and  these  offices  won  him  completely.  His  interest  and 
power  of  attention  grew  rapidly  and  I  was  rejoiced. 
Occasionally  I  have  met  just  this  type  in  Sunday-school. 
It  takes  patience  to  win  them. 

It  does  not  really  matter  by  which  of  the  legitimate 
ways  one  wins  attention  and  develops  the  power.  The 
point  is  to  focus  the  faculties  upon  the  thing  to  be 
taught  until,  with  young  children  through  interest  and 
curiosity,  and  with  older  ones  through  interest  and  effort, 

[58] 


ATTENTION 

the  end  Is  accomplished  and  the  child  grows  Into  a  habit 
of  attention  —  this  Important  habit  which  will  enable  us 
to  sow  deeply  the  thoughts  which  will  lead  him  on  to 
higher  and  truer  living. 

The  Teacher's  Attention 

Careful  observation  of  teachers  at  their  work  has  con- 
vinced me  that  many  teachers  have  not  the  power  of 
attention  themselves.  I  have  seen  teachers  In  Sunday- 
school  conducting  the  lesson  with  one  eye  on  the  class 
and  the  other  watching  visitors,  officers,  other  classes, 
or  the  clock.  Such  teachers  cannot  hold  the  attention 
of  the  class.  I  recall  now  a  teacher  with  many  good 
qualities.  She  was  pretty  and  winning  In  manner,  but 
she  wasted  nearly  half  the  period  getting  ready  to  teach. 
It  took  her  a  long  time  to  take  ofF  her  gloves.  She 
failed  to  hold  her  class  because  she  was  continually  bor- 
rowing during  the  ,Sunday-school  hour ;  pencils,  blanks, 
a  Bible,  quarterly  were  needed,  and  she  seldom  had  them. 
By  the  time  she  was  ready  the  class  had  found  many 
things  not  at  all  connected  with  the  lesson  to  claim  their 
attention. 

The  attention  that  the  teacher  must  give  is  peculiar. 
If  he  gives  his  whole  mind  to  the  pupil,  his  questions  will 
be  weak ;  there  will  be  repetition  and  he  will  grow  Into 
the  — "What  did  Moses  do  when  he  — Fred,  will  you 
let  Harold  alone,  — What  did  Moses,  —  Frank,  you  are 
not  giving  attention  now  '*  —  type  of  a  teacher.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  he  concentrates  every  power  upon  the 
lesson,  Harold  and  Fred  will  have  ample  opportunity 
to  consult  each  other  If  they  wish. 

The  attention  which  the  teacher  must  give  Is  both 
voluntary  and  Involuntary.  It  Is  extended  over  a  wider 
space,  and  includes  far  more  than  that  which  the  pupil 
gives.     The  ninth  grade  boy  paid  his  teacher  a  real  com- 

[59] 


TALKS  WITH    THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

pliment  when  he  said,  "  He  can  teach  right  along,  and 
look  volumes  at  the  same  time  if  you  are  doing  anything 
you  shouldn't." 

Every  teacher  needs  to  be  able  to  do  this.  The  eye 
is  after  all  the  great  controlling  power.  Learn  to  in- 
clude all  your  pupils  in  your  glance  as  you  teach.  I 
once  had  a  teacher  whom  I  thought  looked  always  at  me 
when  he  talked  and  every  other  pupil  in  the  class  thought 
the  same.  A  keen  eye,  a  quick  ear,  well-prepared  ma- 
terial in  which  one  is  interested,  heart  and  soul,  and  the 
problem  of  gaining  attention  is  half  solved. 

Suppose  we  watch  ourselves  this  week  and  test  our 
own  power  of  voluntary  attention,  in  church,  at  lectures 
and  concerts,  and  especially  in  our  reading  and  study. 
If  we  take  careful  note  of  ourselves  I  am  sure  we  shall 
be  able  to  better  appreciate  the  struggle  our  children 
have  to  make  in  response  to  demands  that  they  "  pay 
attention." 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

The  whole  mind  concentrated  upon  the  one  thing  in 
hand  at  the  moment  explains  the  success  of  many  a  life. 
"  This  one  thing  I  do  "  was  the  secret  of  Paul's  power. 

FOR    DISCUSSION 

1 .  What  is  attention  ? 

2.  Name  two  kinds  of  attention. 

3.  Under  what  pathway  may  involuntary  attention  be 
classed  ? 

4.  How  may  involuntary  attention  be  gained  ? 

5.  Upon  what  does  involuntary  attention  depend  ? 

6.  Explain  fully  the  act  of  voluntary  attention. 

7.  How  may  voluntary  attention  be  encouraged  ? 

8.  Upon  what  does  voluntary  attention  depend? 

9.  Describe  a  teacher's  attention. 

[60] 


ATTENTION 

10.  What  relation  exists  between  attention  and  thought  ? 

1 1 .  What  place  in  the  qualification  of  a  teacher  does  ability 
to  gain  attention  hold  ? 

12.  What  difference  exists  in  power  of  attention  at  six  and 
sixteen  ?     What  diiference  in  method  must  follow  ? 

13.  What  diiference  may  physical  conditions  make  in  power 
of  attention  ? 

14.  Discuss  special  pupils  whose  attention  you  have  been 
able  to  gain  ;  those  you  have  failed  to  hold.  What  method 
did  you  use  in  each  case  ? 

15.  Give  thought  for  the  week  in  your  own  words. 


PAGES    TO    BE    REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology   in  the   Schoolroom,    pp.   28-45.       See    chapter  on 
Discipline,  pp.   367-390. 

History  of  Christianity,  pp.   140-170. 

Kemp's  History,  pp.   18-32. 

See  James'  Talks  to  Teachers,  chapter  XI. 


[6.] 


VIII 

THE   WILL 
The  Will 

"  Make  us  desire  the  best  things  that  we  may  live 
as  Christ  lived,"  prayed  a  young  girl  in  the  Christian 
Endeavor  service.  She  prayed  better  than  she  knew, 
for  what  we  are  depends  upon  what  we  desire  to  a  far 
greater  extent  than  we  realize.  At  the  basis  of  the 
will,  the   foundation  of  its  complex  acts,  lies  desire. 

Desire 

We  may  say,  speaking  broadly,  that  desire  when 
analyzed  is  made  up  of  impulse  and  appetite.  The 
cravings  of  the  animal  system  demanding  satisfaction 
constitute  the  appetites  with  their  long  train  of  results 
both  good  and  evil.  The  imitative  movements,  the 
strange  promptings  to  action  without  definite  purpose, 
the  things  which  the  child  does  because  he  "feels  like 
it"  —  these  make  up  impulse. 

In  the  course  of  the  development  of  the  mind,  then, 
we  have  appetite  and  impulse  creating  desire ;  desire 
when  gratified,  returning  through  imagination  and  feel- 
ing, demands  satisfaction  again  and  again  until  it  be- 
comes a  sort  of  habit,  and  the  child  has  formed  strong 
inclinations  toward  action  along  certain  lines,  which  last 
through  life. 

As  we  attempt  to  develop  the  will  along  right  lines  we 
come  to  realize  that  it  means  persistent  encouragement 
of  the  inclinations- toward   the   good,  and  starving  and 

[62] 


THE   WILL 

weeding  out  of  inclinations  toward  the  bad.  When  a 
child  is  hungry  he  craves  food;  when  thirsty,  drink. 
He  is  driven  toward  gratification  of  the  desire  that  he 
may  be  satisfied.  If  the  food  and  drink  are  of  the  right 
sort  every  part  of  his  physical  being  develops  and  he  is 
a  healthy,  natural,  growing  child.  The  child  craves 
companionship,  active  pleasure,  love.  He  could  not 
name  these  desires ;  they  are  vague.  Impulse  spurs 
him  on  to  seek  companionship  and  pleasure  and  if  the 
result  satisfies,  he  will  seek  it  again  in  response  to 
another  impulse.  If  the  companion  and  the  pleasure 
be  of  the  right  sort,  natural  growth  and  real  develop- 
ment of  this  part  of  his  nature  will  follow.  Whenever 
a  child  feels  desire  for  a  thing,  believes  he  can  secure  it, 
and  so  seeks  it,  a  definite  act  of  the  will  takes  place. 

As  I  note  carefully  the  general  trend  of  his  appetites 
and  impulses  as  seen  in  his  actions,  the  desire  is  born  in 
me  to  so  train  the  child  that  the  lower  desire  shall  be 
ruled  by  the  higher,  until  principle  becomes  more  and 
more  the  basis  of  action  ;  I  desire  to  so  train  his  will 
that  it  shall  grow  strong  enough  to  control.  If  I  could 
do  this  I  should  give  him  a  perfect  will ;  all  I  can  hope 
to  do  is  to  get  as  near  the  ideal  as  possible. 

As  his  teacher  I  realize  that  certain  appetites,  im- 
pulses, inclinations  come  to  him  as  an  inheritance  and 
often  they  are  against  him  in  his  struggle  for  self- 
control.  I  realize,  too,  that  his  home  training  is  often 
merely  repression  of  the  lower  or  inconvenient  impulses 
and  appetites.  He  is  controlled  by  another  will  stronger 
and  more  developed,  and  his  own  receives  no  training. 
He  is  a  slave  to  another  will  until  he  rebels.  If  this  be 
true,  when  he  gets  away  from  the  home  restraint,  it  is 
possible  for  the  repressed  impulses  and  appetites  to  burst 
forth  —  and  a  wreck  follows. 

As  his  teacher  I  am   responsible  for  neither  his  in- 

[63] 


TALKS    WITH    THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

heritance  nor  his  home  training.  I  am  responsible  for 
what  I  do  and  fail  to  do  with  him  while  he  is  in  my 
charge,  and  for  what  training  it  is  possible  for  me  to 
give  him  indirectly  through  my  influence  and  example. 

I  can  help  him  by  constantly  keeping  in  mind  the 
aim  to  teach  him  so  that  the  higher  impulse  shall  con- 
trol. It  is  possible  to  do  this  through  stories,  even  with 
small  children.  I  know  a  little  fellow  of  seven  named 
Wilson  who  the  Sunday  before  Independence  Day  heard 
in  Sunday-school  the  story  of  a  boy  who  did  not  fire  his 
crackers  and  gun  because  his  mother  was  sick.  The 
story  was  well  told.  On  the  morning  of  the  Fourth, 
Wilson's  mother  awoke  with  a  very  severe  headache. 
Wilson  blew  his  horn  and  threw  his  torpedoes,  his  only 
response  to  his  mother's  remonstrance  being,  "  It's 
Fourth  of  July  and  I'm  going  to  blow  it."  Suddenly 
he  stopped  and  seemed  to  be  touched  by  her  suffering. 
He  went  over  to  her  couch  and  whispered,  "  I  sha'n't 
do  it  any  more,  mother.  Frank  didn't  shoot  his  gun 
when  his  mother  was  sick." 

Wilson  had  won  a  victory.  The  lower  impulse  had 
yielded  to  the  higher.  He  was  influenced  by  compassion 
for  his  mother's  suffering,  but  he  was  also  influenced  by 
the  imitative  impulse  to  do  as  "  Frank  "  had  done. 
Frank  was  a  mystery  to  the  mother  but  she  was  grateful 
for  his  influence. 

Wilson  has  only  begun  the  conflict  between  the 
higher  and  lower  which  will  last  many  a  year.  Later 
his  father  will  give  him  weeding  in  the  garden  and 
errands  to  do.  The  desire  to  play  will  be  very  strong, 
but  if  the  desire  to  please  his  father  be  stronger  he  will 
be  governed  by  that.  As  he  grows  older  the  con- 
sequences of  his  acts  will  be  a  factor  in  guiding  his 
desires.  He  may  learn  through  experience  that  going 
in  swimming  when  he  is  very  warm  brings  results  he 

[64] 


THE    WILL 

never  wants  again.  Next  time  he  is  tempted  to  go, 
under  the  same  conditions,  the  consequences  of  his  last 
experience  will  have  a  restraining  influence.  "  I  never 
want  to  do  that  again,"  he  will  tell  you.  If  only  the 
discipline  of  consequences  would  always  restrain  wrong 
desires,  what   an  influence  it  would   have  ! 

However,  teachers  can  make  a  child  see  vividly  the 
consequences  of  evil  acts  and,  although  he  must  always 
learn  through  experience  largely,  the  teaching  has  its 
influence.  If  this  teaching  is  coupled  with  strong,  posi- 
tive instruction  the  better  impulses  and  desires  can  be 
awakened. 

By  example  and  story,  by  illustration  verbal  or  black- 
board, by  question  and  suggestion,  by  discipline,  by 
environment  so  far  as  he  can  influence  it  —  in  every 
possible  way  the  teacher  must  study  to  create  a  desire 
for  the  very  best.  Indeed  I  am  convinced  that  the 
teacher's  business  is  just  this,  to  create  and  encourage 
desire  for  the  best  things  in  life. 

Choice 

In  his  earlier  years  the  child  has  impulses  and  follows 
them  without  thought  of  results.  But  as  he  grows  older, 
desires  conflict  and  he  does  not  know  what  to  do.  The 
intellect  begins  to  assert  its  power ;  reasons  why  he 
should  or  should  not  do  a  thing  are  presented  in  turn  and 
he  must  listen  to  them.  After  thinking  about  it  he 
finally  decides  what  to  do.  He  has  then  exercised  the 
highest  power  of  the  will,  that  of  deliberate  choice. 

It  is  most  interesting  to  watch  children  from  ten  to 
twelve  exercise  this  power  of  choice.  I  watched  an 
eleven-year-old  boy  a  few  weeks  ago.  Idleness  is  his 
fault  and  his  work  was  not  done  when  I  called  for  it. 
I  told  him  he  might  choose  between  two  punishments : 
he  might  write  a  note  to  his  mother  telling  her  about 

[65] 


TALKS   WITH    THE   TRAINING    CLASS 

the  waste  of  time  and  asking  her  to  see  that  the  work 
was  done  before  he  went  to  bed,  or  he  might  complete 
it  while  the  other  children  were  enjoying  the  entertain- 
ment in  the  afternoon.  "  I  can't  choose/*  he  said,  "  be- 
cause I  was  going  down  to  see  Harry's  baseball  outfit 
and  stay  to  supper,  and  I'll  have  to  come  home  so  early 
1  can't  have  any  fun."  Then  in  a  moment,  "  I  want 
to  hear  Clyde's  story  and  the  violin  solo  awfully,  and 
the  charades."  His  brows  were  knit  and  his  whole 
attitude  showed  the  struggle.  After  some  time  I  saw 
him  take  out  his  block  and  begin  to  write  the  letter. 

Some  time  after  a  girl  about  twelve  had  a  hard  struggle 
to  choose  between  what  she  wanted  to  do  and  what  she 
ought  to  do.  Her  aunt  said  she  must  get  home  from  a 
class  picnic  at  half  past  six.  If  she  kept  her  promise  to 
do  so  she  would  miss  the  long  trolley  ride  the  others 
decided  to  take.  It  was  with  great  interest  and  sym- 
pathy that  I  watched  desire  to  remain  and  desire  to 
obey  present  themselves  in  turn.  At  last  she  chose 
to  go  home  as  she  had  promised.  It  was  a  splendid 
victory. 

If  we  are  observant  we  may  see  our  children  each  day 
making  the  little  choices  which  determine  character. 
I  believe  we  should  allow  the  child  more  and  more  to 
choose  for  himself.  In  this  way  we  are  helping  to  cul- 
tivate the  habit  of  deliberate  choice  which,  of  course, 
children  do  not  have,  and  which  so  many  of  us  who  are 
older  wofully  lack.  It  becomes  the  passion  of  the  true 
teacher  to  so  influence  his  children  that  the  choices  they 
make  shall  be  right. 

Resolution 

But  after  the  choice  has  really  been  made  something 
more  is  necessary.  One  must  resolve  to  stick  to  it,  and 
persevere  until  the  thing  is  accomplished.     If  a  child   is 

[66] 


THE   WILL 

continually  making  choices  which  never  amount  to  any- 
thing because  he  has  no  power  of  resolution  and  cannot 
hold  out,  we  may  well  tremble  for  him.  We  must  go 
to  work  with  all  earnestness  to  stimulate  and  encourage 
him  in  his  resolution  until  he  feels  the  satisfaction  which 
comes  when  a  thing  is  really  done. 

If  there  is  a  long  wait  between  the  time  when  a  child 
resolves  to  do  a  thing  and  the  time  when  he  can  begin 
to  carry  out  the  resolution,  it  is  very  much  harder.  The 
test  of  the  strength  of  a  resolution  is  determined  by  the 
length  of  time  one  can  persevere  in  it.  If  only  we 
could  persevere  in  all  the  resolutions  made  to  do  and  be, 
how  much  better  off  the  world  would  be  to-day  !  As  we 
realize  it  we  begin  to  note  very  carefully  the  choices 
made  by  our  children,  especially  as  the  time  approaches 
when  they  are  ready  to  decide  to  be  Christians.  After 
the  child  has  given  expression  to  this  resolution  is  the 
most  critical  time  in  his  religious  experience.  It  is  at  this 
time,  when  the  child  needs  help  most,  that  he  is  so  often 
neglected.  Often  parents  oppose  his  wish  to  unite  with 
the  church  at  fourteen  or  sixteen  and  he  is  told  to  wait 
until  he  is  older.  The  result  usually  is  that  the  reso- 
lution weakens  and  dies  out.  If  the  child  had  been 
allowed  to  unite  with  the  church  and  then  given  some 
part  in  its  work  that  he  might  carry  out  his  resolu- 
tion to  do  good,  a  constant  and  natural  growth  would 
result. 

One  of  the  most  important  things  for  us  as  Sunday- 
school  teachers  to  decide  is  the  method  we  shall  follow 
with  our  children  during  the  critical  years  when  they  are 
making  their  choices  and  resolutions.  No  one  can  do 
this  for  us.  It  is  a  problem  we  must  meet  ourselves  and 
solve  for  our  own  children  under  conditions  which  exist 
in  our  own  schools.  It  must  be  met  and  it  can  be 
solved. 

[67] 


TALKS    WITH   THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

Christ  desired  above  all  else  to  do  the  will  of  his 
Father.  The  purity,  unselfishness  and  heroism  of  his 
life  were  the  result.  In  proportion  as  that  desire  governs 
our  lives  shall  we  be  able  to  live  as  he  lived. 

FOR   DISCUSSION 

1 .  What  is  meant  by  desire  ? 

2.  When  does  a  definite  act  of  the  will  take  place  ? 

3.  What  is  sometimes  the  result  of  a  child's  home  training  ? 

4.  What  is  the  difference  between  repression  and  develop- 
ment of  the  will  ? 

5.  For  what   part   of  the   child's   training   is   the  teacher 
responsible  ? 

6.  How  may  I  influence  a  child's  impulses  and  desires  ? 

7.  How   may  the  discipline    of  consequences   influence   a 
child  ? 

8.  What  may  we  say  is  the  business  of  the  teacher?     Do 
you  believe  it  ? 

9.  What  is  the  highest  function  of  the  will  ? 

10.  Describe  the  act  of  choosing.  What  mind  faculties  are 
called  into  play  ? 

11.  **  We  should  allow  the  child  more  and  more  to  choose 
for  himself."     Discuss  this  statement. 

I  2.    After  choice  has  been  made,  what  more  is  necessary  ? 

13.  What  is  the  most  critical  time  in  a  child's  religious 
experience  ?     Why  ? 

1 4.  What  is  a  strong  will  ? 

15.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  strong  will  and  an 
obstinate  will  ? 

16.  In  your  opinion  which  is  the  strongest  man,  one  ruled 
by  feeling,  intellect  or  will  ? 

17.  Discuss  your  treatment  of  children  with  whose  wills 
you  have  come  in  contact. 

18.  Give  in  vour  own  words  the  thought  of  the  week. 

[68] 


THE   WILL 


PAGES    TO    BE   REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  pp.  280-302.      Special  attention, 
pp.  288-296. 
^    History  of  Christianity.      Review  by  questions,  pp.  173-190. 

Kemp's  History,  The  Crusades,  pp.  293-315. 

See  James'  Talks  to  Teachers,  chapter  XV. 


[69] 


IX 

HABIT 

As  I  took  the  car  that  afternoon  I  was  thinking  of 
habit  and  its  mighty  sway  over  all  of  us,  though  we  are 
so  often  unconscious  of  it  until  we  see  men  and  women 
hopeless  slaves  to  its  power. 

The  poor  wretch  I  had  seen  walking  up  and  down 
past  the  open  door  of  the  saloon  made  me  realize  it 
anew.  He  seemed  to  be  struggling  against  its  power, 
but  the  struggle  was  short,  and  he  entered  to  forge  one 
more  link  in  the  chain. 

The  thought  of  the  relentless  grasp  of  habit  so  im- 
pressed me  that  I  saw  as  never  before  the  force  of  that 
old  saying  "  Character  is  a  bundle  of  habits."  I  began 
to  give  special  attention  to  little  habits  of  my  own  and 
of  friends.  I  saw  business  men  take  out  their  watches, 
return  them  to  their  pockets  only  to  look  again  a  few 
seconds  later,  though  they  could  not  tell  me  the  time 
when  I  asked  it ;  I  heard  the  repetition  of  certain  phrases 
in  conversation,  saw  unconscious  movements  of  hands 
and  feet,  and  heard  given  as  an  excuse  over  and  over, 
"  I've  gotten  into  the  habit  of  it."  The  habit  of  taking 
two  cups  of  coffee  at  breakfast,  reading  a  certain  page  in 
the  evening  paper  first,  retiring  at  ten  o'clock !  Habits 
innumerable  ! 

That  week  of  observation  sent  me  into  school  and 
Sunday-school  with  renewed  determination  to  do  my 
best  toward  the  formation  of  habits  which  my  children 
need  never  struggle  to  unlearn  In  later  years. 

[70] 


HABIT 

Habit  belongs  to  both  psychology  and  physiology.  A 
child  bends  low  over  his  desk  for  two  years  in  school, 
and  then  meets  a  teacher  who  realizes  what  it  will  mean 
unless  the  habit  Is  broken.  The  child  will  have  a  strug- 
gle If  he  overcomes  the  habit.  He  will  have  to  exercise 
will  and  memory  and  also  be  obliged  to  fight  against 
acquired  positions  of  muscles  and  tissues.  The  longer 
the  fight  Is  delayed  the  harder  the  victory  will  be.  If 
nothing  be  said  to  him  until  at  eighteen  he  wakes  up 
to  the  fact  that  he  is  very  round-shouldered,  habit  will 
have  become  such  a  master  of  muscle  that  will  has  a 
tremendous  task  if  it  attempts  to  straighten  his  spine. 

We  saw  last  week  that  every  act  of  the  will  was 
caused  primarily  by  impulse  and  desire.  It  is  true  of 
habit.  In  the  beginning  there  must  be  some  motive  for 
the  act,  and  if  the  act  is  repeated  regularly,  less  and  less 
will-power  Is  needed  until  the  act  is  performed  with 
practically  no  effort  of  the  will  and  has  become  pure 
habit.  If  the  habit  Is  a  good  one.  It  Is  of  great  value 
because  it  makes  conduct  easier.  If  one  forms  the  habit 
of  telling  things  exactly  as  they  are,  the  years  tend  to  fix 
the  habit,  and  danger  of  being  led  astray  Is  lessened. 
On  the  whole,  habit  is  a  most  valuable  agency  in  the 
development  of  character,  and  It  Is  our  purpose  this 
week  to  see  what  desirable  habits  we  as  teachers  can 
form.  We  labor  under  a  great  disadvantage,  as  we 
all  realize,  because  six  days  must  Intervene  before  we 
can  again  emphasize  and  repeat  our  teaching,  and  only 
now  and  then  can  we  give  the  children  under  our  direct 
guidance  opportunity  to  act  in  accordance  with  our 
teaching.  The  reason  we  covet  the  power  to  teach  in  a 
way  that  the  memory  shall  be  so  impressed  as  to  carry 
the  teaching  through  the  week  is  because  we  realize  the 
great  importance  of  regular  action  In  the  formation  of 
habit. 

[71] 


TALKS   WITH    THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

Motive 

Behind  every  habit  lies  a  motive,  so  that  when  the 
teacher  begins  to  plan  the  formation  of  good  habits  and 
the  destruction  of  bad  ones  in  his  children  the  first  step 
is  a  search  for  motive.  "  Why  does  the  child  do  this  ?  '* 
is  a  constant  question.  Here  is  a  child  who  lies  every 
time  he  is  accused  of  anything.  "I  didn't  do  it"  falls 
from  his  lips  before  the  accusation  is  finished.  The  lie 
of  imagination  is  entirely  different  from  the  lie  of  con- 
venience. Why  does  he  lie  ?  In  his  particular  case  he 
lies  to  save  himself  from  punishment.  He  is  a  coward. 
He  is  afraid  of  punishment  but  not  of  lying.  As  I  study 
his  case  I  may  find  that  he  has  been  severely  and  un- 
justly punished  and  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is 
better  to  lie  and  escape.  My  task  then  is  clear.  I  must 
make  him  despise  his  cowardice  and  give  him  a  profound 
fear  of  a  lie,  while  I  do  my  best  to  introduce  into  his 
make-up  courage  enough  to  take  his  punishment,  even 
though  severe,  rather  than  lie.  When  Ananias  fell  dead 
"  great  fear  *'  came  upon  all  who  knew,  a  fear  of  lying 
and  deceit,  and  it  had  a  tremendous  influence  upon  those 
who  constituted  the  Church  in  the  first  few  years.  One 
of  the  worst  things  which  can  happen  to  a  child  is  to  tell 
a  lie  and  not  get  caught.  I  am  glad  when  I  find  a  child 
who  is  afraid  to  lie. 

Here  is  another  child  who  lies  from  an  altogether  dif- 
ferent motive.  He  wishes  to  appear  to  be  what  he  is 
not ;  to  get  better  marks,  a  higher  standing,  the  approval 
of  teachers  and  parents.  My  task  is  to  change  his 
motive;  to  make  him  bend  every  effort  to  be  what  he 
wants  to  seem  ;  to  make  him  feel  the  despicable  mean- 
ness of  hypocrisy. 

If  the  teacher  seeks  out  the  motive  and  finds  it,  then 
he  is  ready  to  give  persistent  treatment  until  the  habit  of 

[72] 


HABIT 

truth-telling  is  formed  and  fixed  through  the  years  so 
that  it  will  be  hard  to  lie.  We  must  aim  to  make  the 
conscience  so  sensitive  that  it  suffers  keenly  whenever  a 
lie  is  told.  This  sincere  love  of  the  truth  is  inspired  by 
example  fully  as  much  as  by  teaching. 

I  shall  never  forget  a  brown-eyed,  frank  little  fellow 
of  twelve  who  was  discussing  with  a  group  of  other  boys 
one  who  had  been  found  guilty  of  stealing.  The  boys 
were  expressing  opinions  freely.  "  Besides  stealing  he 
lied.  He  was  always  a  coward,"  said  one.  "  He  was 
all  the  time  afraid  somebody  would  find  out  and  tell  on 
him.  I  know  a  fellow  he  gave  ten  cents  not  to  tell 
where  he'd  seen  him."  Then  the  brown-eyed  boy 
threw  his  head  back  proudly.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  Fm 
glad  of  one  thing;  there  can't  anybody  find  out  and  tell 
anything  on  me,  and  I  wouldn't  pay  anybody  ten  cents, 
for  there's  nothing  to  find  out  that  everybody  don't 
know."  I  can  never  forget  the  fine  challenge  In  his 
face,  the  glorious  courage  that  shone  out  in  his  eyes,  the 
courage  which  belongs  only  to  those  who  have  nothing 
to  hide.  I  saw  a  blush  pass  over  the  face  of  the  boy 
nearest  him.  He  couldn't  say  it.  The  presence  of 
that  absolutely  truthful  boy  was  an  example,  a  reproof 
and  a  help  to  every  one  in  his  school. 

Patience  in  Forming  Habits 

Habits  cannot  be  broken  in  a  day,  neither  can  they  be 
made  in  a  day.  It  requires  great  patience  as  well  as 
skill.  The  child  who  comes  to  school  and  Sunday- 
school  dirty  and  unkempt  cannot  be  taught  to  be  clean 
and  neat  by  a  few  lessons  given  incidentally  or  even  by 
personal  conversation.  Yet  I  have  seen  many  a  miracle 
along  this  line  wrought  between  ten  years  and  fourteen 
by  patient  instruction  and  sympathy.  I  have  looked 
more  than  once  with  surprise  and  pleasure  at  some  neat, 

[73] 


TALKS   WITH   THE  TRAINING   CLASS 

pretty  fifteen-year-old  girl  who  has  been  slowly  learning 
such  habits  of  cleanliness  that  I  could  not  recognize  the 
child  I  knew  five  years  before. 

Nowhere  in  our  work  do  we  feel  so  keenly  the  need 
of  the  parents'  help  as  in  our  attempt  to  encourage 
habits  of  regular  attendance  and  responsibility  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  work  of  the  church.     We  must  have  it. 

It  is  not  enough  that  the  teacher  should  meet  the 
exaggerated  tale  of  the  child  with  the  look  which  says, 
"  Of  course  this  you  are  telling  me  is  not  true."  The 
parent  in  cooperation  must  receive  such  tales  in  the  same 
way  until  the  child  realizes  that  his  story  is  not  accepted 
and  repeats  it  more  truthfully.  To  make  any  effort 
efl^ectual,  we  must  have  the  parents'  support  and  sym- 
pathy in   our  effort. 

Preventive  Work 

The  prevention  of  the  first  act  which  will  lead  to  the 
formation  of  undesirable  habits  is  one  of  the  great  privi- 
leges of  the  teacher.  For  example,  the  cigarette  habit, 
which  is  working  with  our  boys  evil  which  no  one  can 
realize  as  does  a  teacher,  may  in  the  majority  of  cases  be 
prevented  but  with  difficulty  broken.  An  appeal  to  rea- 
son, to  athletic  ambition,  with  clear,  emphatic  instruction, 
having  no  suggestion  of  the  "goody-goody"  makes  an 
impression  upon  the  average  boy. 

"  You  don't  dast  ter  smoke  'cause  yer  afraid  of  yer 
mother,"  said  one  of  my  boys  in  a  taunting  way.  '^  I 
dast  not  to  smoke  when  fellars  ask  me  and  that's  more 
than  you  can  say,"  was  the  answer.  It  gave  me  the 
basis  of  all  my  future  arguments.  The  fact  that  some 
boys  are  so  courageous  that  they  dare  not  to  do  things, 
that  they  are  free  and  will  not  be  made  slaves  to  any 
habit  by  the  teasing  remarks  of  other  boys,  is  an  appeal 
to  the  element  of  courage  and  "  dare  "  and  has  helped  me 

[74] 


HABIT 

many  times  with  my  boys.  I  have  found  that  children 
like  to  break  themselves  of  little  habits.  The  eleven- 
year-old  girl  who  gave  me  a  pin  every  time  she  said 
"  ain't,'*  feeling  great  pride  in  the  lessening  number  until 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  week  she  had  stopped  using  the 
word,  is  an  illustration.  Encouraging  this  effort  to 
break  with  habit  is  preventive  work  because  the  child 
who  realizes  the  effort  needed  to  break  bad  habits  is 
more  responsive  when  urged  to  refrain  from  forming 
them. 

A  search  for  motive  is  the  fundamental  work  of  the 
teacher  who  would  form  right  habits.  The  elevation 
and  strengthening  of  motive  holds  an  important  place  in 
the  teacher's  creed. 

At  no  time  in  his  experience  does  a  teacher  realize 
more  fully  the  necessity  for  knowledge  of  the  individual 
pupil  than  when  he  attempts  a  definite  course  of  habit 
making  or  breaking,  with  his  class.  We  find  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  characteristics  and  temperament  of  each 
child  is  absolutely  necessary  if  we  are  to  strengthen  good 
habits  and  destroy  the  bad. 

Temperament 

Let  us  try  to  make  a  simple  classification  of  these 
children  according  to  temperament. 

We  must  remember  that  no  classification  is  com- 
plete and  satisfactory  and  that  we  shall  probably  never 
meet  in  our  classes  a  child  who  is  a  pure  type.  The 
study  will,  however,  be  suggestive  and  help  us  analyze 
more  closely  the  temperaments  with  which  we  come  in 
contact. 

Here,  then,  is  a  bright-faced,  light-haired  little  girl. 
She  is  lively,  eager,  very  excitable.  She  is  quickly 
roused  to  action,  effort,  or  anger,  but  she  is  not  very 
deeply  roused.     She  has  the  sanguine  temperament.    Over 

[75] 


TALKS   WITH   THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

in  the  other  class  Is  a  slender,  pretty  girl.  Her  features 
are  delicate,  her  large,  bright  eyes  are  very  expressive 
as  they  respond  to  all  that  interests  her.  Her  motions 
are  graceful,  she  loves  poetry,  music  and  pictures  and 
responds  to  all  the  beauties  of  nature.  If  she  should 
answer  truthfully  the  question  so  often  put  to  children 
of  her  type,  "  Where  is  your  common  sense  ?  "  she  would 
say,  "  I  have  none."  She  does  not  know  what  it  is  to 
be  practical.     She  has  the  reflective  temperament. 

In  the  next  class  is  a  boy  whose  large,  full  face  with 
its  thick  lips  and  sleepy  eyes  seems  almost  without 
expression.  It  does  not  appeal  to  one  strongly.  His 
mind  as  well  as  his  body  moves  very  slowly.  Possessing 
plenty  of  patience  himself  he  taxes  yours  to  the  utmost. 
He  has  the  phlegmatic  temperament. 

Beside  him  is  another  boy,  whose  sallow  face  and  dark 
eyes  light  up  only  when  deeply  stirred.  He  knows  how 
to  persevere  until  a  thing  is  done.  He  has  confidence 
in  himself  and  usually  is  strong-willed  and  has  good 
mental  powers.  He  has  the  energetic  temperament.  These 
temperaments  are  sometimes  summed  up  under  two 
heads,  the  motor^  including  the  first  two,  and  the  sensory^ 
including  the  last  two. 

All  about  you  on  every  side  are  the  hosts  of  children 
whose  temperaments  are  combinations  of  these  pure 
types,  and  like  all  combinations  they  are  difficult  to 
understand. 

The  child  with  sanguine  or  reflective  temperament 
gives  little  trouble  as  far  as  discipline  is  concerned.  If 
you  can  be  firm  and  yet  show  that  you  care  for  him  you 
have  a  strong  hold.  His  affection  is  easily  won.  With 
such  a  child  the  value  of  the  formation  of  right  habits 
cannot  be  overestimated.  The  best  thing  a  teacher  can 
do  for  a  child  of  reflective  temperament  is  to  find  practical, 
definite  ways  for  him  to  work  out  the  great  truths  he 

[76] 


HABIT 

grasps  so  quickly  but  finds  so  hard  to  apply  to  his  daily 
life.  The  energetic  and  phlegmatic  with  their  combina- 
tions are  sure  to  give  trouble  unless  handled  with  wisdom 
and  care.  These  are  the  children  whose  development 
can  be  almost  hopelessly  blighted  by  a  careless  hand. 
Just  how  to  lead  a  phlegmatic  boy  to  see  the  best  there 
is  before  him,  at  the  same  time  giving  him  a  motive  strong 
enough  to  make  him  exert  himself,  is  not  an  easy  prob- 
lem to  solve  and  no  rules  can  be  given,  but  it  has  been 
done,  therefore  it  can  be  done. 

Just  how  to  help  the  child  of  energetic  temperament 
to  choose  the  highest  ideals  to  which  he  shall  give  all 
the  determination,  confidence  and  will  of  his  nature  is  a 
problem  no  less  difficult,  and  it,  too,  has  been  solved. 
When  a  teacher  has  made  children  of  these  temperaments 
see  and  begin  to  work  for  the  "  best  things  "  he  may 
rejoice,  for  he  is  adding  to  the  class  of  men  and  women 
who  have  after  all  done  the  work  of  the  world. 

And  now  I  want  to  make  what  seems  to  me  a  most 
important  suggestion  to  you  who  are  really  taking  up 
this  study  in  earnest.  Look  for  these  types  and  combi- 
nations in  your  class,  take  out  your  note-book,  write 
the  child's  name  at  the  top  of  the  page  and  watch  his 
development.  Keep  notes  of  your  treatment  of  him  and  the 
result.  The  very  fact  that  you  are  keeping  "  biograph- 
ical notes "  makes  you  interested  as  never  before  and 
will  be  far  more  valuable  than  many  a  course  in  child- 
study,  for  you  are  learning  to  engage  in  child-study  for 
yoursef.  Personally  I  count  this  individual  character 
and  temperament  study  the  most  helpful  I  have  done  in 
the  past  five  years. 

When  you  are  able  to  recognize  a  child's  character- 
istics you  can  more  intelligently  work  through  desire, 
choice  and  resolution  to  develop  his  will,  form  his  habits 
and  develop  his  character. 

[77] 


TALKS  WITH    THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

A  Thought  for  the  Week 

Habit  is  a  cord  strong  and  stout  which  binds  with  the 
power  of  iron  and  steel.  We  are  not  responsible  for  the 
cord,  only  for  the  few  threads  we  are  called  upon  to 
contribute  to  its  making.  May  God  help  us  make  those 
threads  pure,  strong,  resistless. 

FOR   DISCUSSION 

1.  What  is  meant  by  habit  ? 

2.  How  does  discipline  affect  habit  ? 

3.  Why  is  the  formation  of  right  habit  so  important  ? 

4.  Describe  the  relation  between  motive  and  habit. 

5.  What  is  meant  by  '*  preventive  work  "  ? 

6.  What  habits  may  be  formed  in  the  Sunday-school  ? 
Illustrate. 

7  In  your  opinion  is  there  any  danger  of  making  a  child  a 
creature  of  habit  ?     Illustrate. 

8.  Make  a  classification  of  children  according  to  tempera- 
ment. 

9.  Why  are  all  such  classifications  unsatisfactory  ? 

10.  Describe  a  child  with  sanguine  temperament ;  reflective  ; 
phlegmatic ;  energetic. 

11.  Discuss  pupils  of  various  types  and  combinations  which 
you  have  met  in  your  experience.  What  problems  have  they 
presented  ?     How  have  you  met  them  ? 

12.  Why  is  the  keeping  of  **  biographical  notes  '*  a  help  to 
a  teacher  ? 

13.  Give  in  your  own  words  the  thought  for  the  week. 

PAGES   TO    BE    REPORTED    IN    CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom  5  Habit,  pp.  306-328  j  Tempera- 
ment, pp.  342-346. 

History  of  Christianity,  Review  questions,  pp.   192-201. 

Kemp's  History,  pp.   348-377. 

Sec  James'  Talks  to  Teachers,  chapter  VIII. 

[78] 


THE    GIST    OF   THE   WHOLE 
MATTER 

And  now  the  time  has  come  when  we  must  face 
squarely  the  question,  "  What  makes  a  successful  Sunday- 
school  ?  "  There  is  but  one  answer  and  it  is  brief,  — 
"  The  teacher." 

Lesson  courses  broad  in  conception  and  rich  in 
material,  fitted  to  the  needs  of  the  various  pupils,  are 
absolutely  necessary,  but  they  cannot  make  a  successful 
school.  Rooms  adapted  to  Sunday-school  needs,  music, 
maps,  the  stereopticon,  wisely  chosen  pictures  and  libra- 
ries, all  the  machinery  of  an  up-to-date  Sunday-school, 
—  these  are  most  necessary  in  solving  the  problem,  but 
these  cannot  make  a  successful  school ;  no  system  of 
grading,  however  carefully  planned  and  carried  out,  no 
examination  questions,  promotion  exercises  or  diplomas, 
not  even  large  numbers  in  attendance  can  make  a  suc- 
cessful school  if  the  teacher,  the  right  sort  of  teacher,  be 
lacking.  A  teacher  of  the  right  sort  will  make  use  of 
as  many  of  these  means  as  possible,  but  he  and  not  they 
will  make  the  school  a  success. 

The  Ideal  Teacher 

A  teacher  of  the  right  sort  !  Let  us  try  to  describe 
him.  He  will  not  only  be  an  ideal  teacher,  but  he  will 
be  a  teacher  with  ideals.  Ideals  are  the  things  in  life 
most  real.  We  think  of  them  sometimes  as  hazy, 
indefinite,   intangible,  apart  from  life.     It  is   not   true. 

[79] 


TALKS   WITH    THE    TRAINING   CLASS 

What  we  are  as  teachers  to-day  we  are  because  of  our 
ideals.  We  have  not  reached  our  ideal ;  if  we  have  we 
are  dead.  But  we  are  what  we  are  because  of  what  we 
want  to  be,  and  unless  we  have  before  us,  ever  present 
in  our  inner  consciousness,  a  clear  conception  of  what  a 
teacher  ought  to  be,  we  have  no  aim,  no  standard  of  com- 
parison, no  persistent  call  to  a  higher  and  higher  level. 

I  know  a  teacher  whose  ideal  is  to  keep  her  class 
reasonably  quiet.  To  do  this  she  tells  them  stories  of 
her  own  adventures,  reads  to  them,  hears  them  say  the 
golden  text —  if  they  can,  and  scolds  them  a  little  if  they 
can't  —  spends  the  last  precious  five  minutes  in  looking 
over  the  Sunday-school  papers,  and  goes  home  satisfied. 
Nothing  can  be  done  for  her  or  with  her  until  she  has  a 
better  ideal.  One  great  purpose  of  the  training-class  is 
to  raise  standards  and  thus  elevate  ideals. 

A  teacher  of  the  right  sort  is  one  with  a  purpose.  And 
what  that  purpose  is  determines  his  value.  Students 
entering  normal  and  training-schools  are  sometimes 
asked  the  question,  "  What  is  your  purpose  in  coming  to 
this  school  ? "  The  usual  answer  contains,  in  some 
form,  the  expression,  '*•  I  wish  to  teach."  This  state- 
ment may  mean  much  or  little.  It  may  mean  that  out 
of  the  multitude  of  ways  by  which  a  person  can  earn  his 
livelihood,  teaching  appeals  most  strongly.  In  order  to 
get  the  largest  return  for  his  labor  he  enters  the  school 
to  be  trained.  His  purpose  is  to  get  the  reward,  —  a 
salary.  And  this  is  right,  but  if  that  be  his  only  purpose 
he  can  never  be  a  teacher  of  the  right  sort.  It  may 
mean  that  he  is  intensely  interested  in  method  and  sub- 
ject, and  his  purpose  in  attending  such  a  school  is  to 
gain  more  knowledge  and  to  learn  the  best  way  of  im- 
parting it.  And  that  is  right.  But  if  that  be  the  only 
purpose,  he  cannot  be  a  success.  It  may  be  that  he 
loves  children,  enjoys  being  with  them  and   wishes  to 

[80] 


THE    GIST    OF    THE    WHOLE    MATTER 

spend  his  time  carefully  guiding  their  instruction,  watch- 
ing their  development  and  finding  deepest  satisfaction 
in  leading  them  into  ever  enlarging  fields  of  knowledge. 
Even  this  is  not  enough. 

Why  does  a  teacher  of  the  right  sort  teach  geography  ? 
To  give  knowledge  of  people,  places  and  industries  ? 
Yes,  but  he  must  do  more  than  that.  Every  lesson 
must  be  taught  for  itself  in  the  best  possible  way,  but 
unless  every  subject  in  the  school  curriculum  is  planned 
to  teach  the  pupil  how  to  live,  and  unless  it  has  definite 
value  in  the  formation  of  character,  it  might  better  be 
dropped,  and  the  pupil  sent  out-of-doors  to  learn  his 
lessons  from  trees,  flowers   and  birds. 

When  I  dictate  a  working  drawing  to  my  pupils,  what 
am  I  doing  ?  I  am  teaching  them  how  to  do  the  thing 
in  hand,  but  I  am  also  teaching  them  necessity  for  accu- 
racy, which  they  will  need  all  their  lives.  When,  later, 
some  boy  holds  up  the  box  which  he  makes  from  that 
drawing,  and  turns  to  me  with  a  look  of  despair,  saying, 
"Oh,  I  measured  my  cover  wrong  and  it  won't  fit,"  he 
has  learned  the  lesson.  He  cannot  make  it  fit ;  even  if 
he  pastes  on  a  piece,  the  pasting  will  show.  The  lesson 
develops  his  character. 

A  teacher  of  the  right  sort  realizes  that  in  every  lesson 
there  must  be  direct  or  indirect  influence  upon  character, 
else  the  lesson  is  a  failure. 

If  these  things  should  be  true  of  the  purpose  of  the 
teacher  in  a  public  school,  where  of  necessity  religion, 
which  is  the  greatest  power  in  the  development  of  char- 
acter, cannot  be  taught,  how  much  more  should  they  be 
true  of  the  purpose  of  the  Sunday-school  teacher  where 
religion  is  the  thing  to  be  taught ! 

Yes,  a  teacher  of  the  right  sort  will  be  one  with  a  pur- 
pose and  that  purpose  —  to  influence  life  and  character. 

He  will  teach  the  Bible,  its  great  characters,  its  won- 
[8i] 


TALKS   WITH    THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

derful  laws  and  poetry,  history  and  geography,  but  more 
than  all  that  he  will  teach  that  the  God  of  the  Bible  so 
loved  the  men  of  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begot- 
ten Son  that  through  him  they  might  find  eternal  life. 

The  teacher  with  this  purpose  will  be  thoughtful,  will 
be  faithful  —  he  cannot  be  present  in  Sunday-school  two 
Sundays  and  absent  three  —  he  will  be  sympathetic,  en- 
tering into  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  every  pupil  in  his 
class.  He  will  be  courageous,  expecting  to  meet  prob- 
lems and  with  patience  and  effort  to  solve  them.  He 
will  be  generous  in  his  criticisms,  absolutely  sincere,  and 
above  all  he  will  be  cheerful,  for  of  all  the  places  in  the 
world  the  Sunday-school  has  no  room  for  a  pessimist. 
He  will  also  be  a  student,  constantly  preparing  himself 
to  do  better  and  better  work  as  the  years  go  by. 

Is  he  discouraging  as  we  look  at  him  ?  No,  not  for 
a  moment.  He  calls  forth  all  our  effort,  our  best  effort, 
to  at  least  approach  the  level  where  he  stands.  He  is  a 
splendid  challenge  —  a  glorious  example  whose  motto  is 
"  Excelsior." 

The  Ideal  Pupil 

I  am  sorry  we  cannot  discuss  him  here,  —  he  would 
be  most  interesting.  I  am  sure  as  every  teacher  remem- 
bers himself  as  a  pupil  and  recalls  his  own  present  class, 
he  will  be  ready  to  agree  that  the  ideal  pupil  is  as  rare  as 
the  ideal  teacher.  As  he  begins  to  think  about  it  there 
may  burst  upon  him  a  great  truth,  which,  if  he  really 
sees  it,  will  make  all  his  teaching,  not  a  task  entered 
upon  with  dread,  but  a  service  looked  forward  to  with 
pleasure. 

An  Ideal  Relation 

I  may  fail  of  my  ideal ;  my  pupil  may  fail  of  his 
ideal ;  and  yet  it  is  perfectly  possible  to  have  between 

[82] 


THE    GIST   OF   THE    WHOLE    MATTER 

us,  as  teacher  and  pupil,  an  ideal  relationship  which  shall 
triumph  even  over  lack  of  training  and  lack  of  knowl- 
edge ;  a  relationship  which  shall  fill  me  with  eager  long- 
ing to  be  more  and  know  more,  for  his  sake,  and  to 
inspire  him  to  larger  efFort,  that  he  may  not  disappoint 
me.  There  is  hardly  a  Sunday-school  in  our  country  in 
which  there  could  not  be  found  at  least  one  illustration 
of  just  this  thing. 

The  gist  of  the  whole  matter  is  this,  — the  thing 
which  counts  for  most  in  the  Sunday-school,  as  every- 
where else  in  the  world,  is  the  person  himself  —  what 
he  is.  I  know  and  face  the  fact  squarely  because  I 
must,  — that  it  is  possible  for  me  to  open  hand,  heart 
and  brain  to  receive  the  things  which  will  train  me,  de- 
velop me,  increase  my  power  and  influence,  and  make 
me  of  real  service  to  the  world,  or  I  can  close  hand, 
heart  and  brain  to  them  all,  cease  to  grow,  and  lose  my 
power  because  I  am  satisfied  with  what  I  have  already 
attained.     This,  no  true  teacher  will  ever  do. 

The  Thought  of  the  Book 

May   God   help  me  to  know  that   I   may  teach;  and 
help  me  to  live^  that  what  I  teach  shall  count. 


FOR    DISCUSSION 

1.  What  makes  a  successful  Sunday-school  ? 

2.  What   things,    though   necessary,    may   fail   to   make   a 
successful  school  ? 

3.  Describe  briefly  **  a  teacher  of  the  right  sort." 

4.  What  is  an  ideal  ? 

^5.    **  We  are  what  we  are  because  of  what  we  want  to 
be.  * '      What  does  this  mean  ?     Do  you  believe  it  ? 

6.    What    should    be    the   purpose   of  the   teacher   in   the 
Sunday-sghool } 

[83] 


TALKS   WITH   THE   TRAINING   CLASS 

7.  What  adjectives  can  be  used  in  describing  an  ideal 
teacher  ? 

8.  Do  you  believe  that  we  should  teach  the  geography  and 
history  of  the  Bible,  its  preservation  through  the  ages,  its  place 
in  its  development  of  civilization  ?  Give  reasons  for  your 
answer. 

9.  What  else  is  necessary  ? 

10.  What  is  meant  by  an  ideal  relation  between  teacher  and 
pupil  ?     What  can  bring  it  about  ? 

11.  In    your    opinion,    what    is    the    **  gist    of  the    whole 
matter"  ? 

I  2.    Give  in  your  own  words  the  thought  of  the  book. 


PAGES    TO    BE   REPORTED    IN   CLASS 

Psychology  in  the  Schoolroom,  pp.   333-338. 

History  of  Christianity,  Review  questions,  pp.  203-209. 

Kemp's  History.  Read  first  chapter.  Read  last  chapter. 
Realize  the  development  of  the  world  in  the  record  which  lies 
between. 

Story  of  the  Bible.  If  you  have  not  already  done  so,  complete 
the  book. 


[84] 


^ii'iK?Mr  .Il'^o'og'cal  Seminary  Libraries 


1    1012  01237  6911 


